Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa laid to rest as new death details emerge

Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were finally laid to rest on Tuesday after months of investigations into their unusual deaths. 

According to People, Gene and Betsy’s Santa Fe memorial was attended by close friends and family, including the actor’s three children, Christopher, Elizabeth and Leslie. 

The couple passed away within a week of each other in February, after Betsy succumbed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and Gene died from heart disease. 

The bodies were found in their home by workers who were on the property to provide routine maintenance on February 26.

Betsy’s declining health

Betsy, 65, had been in good health just weeks earlier, yet reports found that she had been researching symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 days before her death. 

The searches included questions about dizziness and nosebleeds, leading investigators to believe that Betsy thought she was suffering from a routine illness, rather than the deadly hantavirus. 

Hantavirus is spread through rodent droppings; after an extensive search of their property, investigators found evidence of rodent feces in some of the couple’s garages, as well as nests and live creatures. 

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Investigators also found traps on the property, indicating that the pair had an ongoing problem with rodents. However, they found no evidence of an infestation in their main house. 

Betsy was forced to cancel her massage appointment the day before her death according to an email she sent, after waking up with flu-like symptoms.

She asked to reschedule her appointment for the following day “out of an abundance of caution,” as she had taken a COVID test that returned a negative result. The classical pianist called a medical service on February 12 asking for advice, yet missed a return call that same afternoon and is thought to have passed away that same day.

Family ties

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Investigators ruled that Gene passed away a week later from heart disease, with Alzheimer’s and kidney disease playing a part in the 95-year-old’s death. 

He left his entire $80 million fortune to Betsy rather than his three children, whom he welcomed with his first wife, Faye Maltese.

Upon his death, Elizabeth and Leslie released a heartbreaking statement about grieving his loss. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” they said.

© Ron Galella Collection via Getty

“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us, he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Gene and Betsy met at a gym that she was working at part-time in the early ’80s, and the pair married in 1991. She was a devoted carer for the Bonnie & Clyde actor in his twilight years, with Gene’s daughter Leslie sharing that Betsy took “very, very good care of him.”

“They had a wonderful marriage. And I give credit to his wife, Betsy, for keeping him alive,” Leslie told the Daily Mail. She added that her stepmother was “always looking out for [Gene’s] health” and that he was “in very good physical condition” before his death.

To watch Morgan Freeman’s heartbreaking tribute to Gene, see below…