A chilling word was heard on the 911 call after Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found ‘mummified’ in separate bedrooms of their home in Santa Fe.
TMZ has reported that the 911 caller was emotional and said “Damn” on the phone. The man, believed to be a maintenance worker, was reportedly begging for help and said he was unsure if he found one or two bodies.
He could not give any detail about their age or gender of the deceased.
New information has revealed that the deceased couple were found in different rooms of their house and had been “dead for some time”.
The Santa Fe County search warrant details that the actor was found in the mudroom while his wife was found dead in the bathroom near “open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop.” She also had “bloating in her face and mummification in her hands and feet,” with authorities noting that they had been deceased for “some time”.
The bodies were discovered by two maintenance workers who visited the home after they had not seen the couple in almost two weeks.
A neighbor had also notified police to carry out a welfare check. The front door was reportedly open when the maintenance workers arrived but there was no sign of forced entry.
Two healthy dogs were found also, one outside the house and another inside.
The search warrant noted that the “circumstances surrounding” their deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation,”.
No wounds or evidence that they were shot were found at the scene and the New Mexico gas company is helping with the investigation and found “no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence,”.
However, it has been reported by AP that “people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide may not show signs of poisoning.”
The county sheriff’s office noted that “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time.”
They had been married since 1991 and were found on Wednesday morning with their dogs.
Santa Fe County sheriff Adan Mendoza has not provided a cause of death nor has he shared when they may have died.
Mendoza, after identifying the two bodies, shared that officials are in the middle of a preliminary death investigation.
The police department shared: ‘We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.
‘This is an active investigation – however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.’
Hackman had just turned 95 in January. He was well known for being a private person, in retirement. The two-time Oscar winner had not starred in a movie since 2004.
He first gained fame in 1967 when he starred in Bonnie and Clyde and went on to act in well-known movies and TV shows like Superman, the French connection and Get Shorty.
In 2004 however, he announced he was retiring – left Los Angeles and went on to live a quiet life in New Mexico with his wife.
The icon appeared in over 80 films as well as television and stage work.
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Hackman was married twice, his second wife, 63-year-old pianist Arakawa, sadly died also.
The couple had no children but Hackman had three children with his first wife, Faye Maltese. They divorced in 1986 after 30 years together and raising three children, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, Leslie Anne Hackman and Christopher Allen Hackman.
After five years, he married Arakawa – a retired classical pianist 30 years younger than him.
Speaking to Reuters in 2008, he said: ‘I haven’t held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I’m not going to act any longer.’
‘I’ve been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don’t want to do it any longer.’
He also spoke of his passion for writing novels, saying ‘I like the loneliness of it, actually. It’s similar in some ways to acting, but it’s more private and I feel like I have more control over what I’m trying to say and do.’
Now, Hackman’s daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out. Speaking to TMZ, she shared that she thinks the cause of death may be related to toxic fumes, likely carbon monoxide poisoning.
As more details emerge about their unexpected deaths, investigators have disclosed that Hackman and Arakawa were found in separate rooms. According to the Associated Press, Hackman was discovered in a mudroom, while his wife was found in a bathroom near a space heater.
Inside the bathroom, an open prescription bottle and scattered pills were observed on the countertop.
This information was revealed through a search warrant issued by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, sheriff’s office spokesperson Denise Avila confirmed that neither Hackman nor Arakawa had any gunshot wounds or visible injuries.
They will both be missed, RIP.
