Betsy Arakawa spent her final days running errands before she, her husband, Gene Hackman, and their dog Zinna were found dead in their New Mexico home on Feb. 26.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza shared in a press conference Friday that Arakawa went to the veterinarian’s office to pick up Zinna on Feb. 9 — a detail which seemingly explains why authorities discovered the canine’s body in a crate.
On Feb. 11, the classical pianist had a conversation with a massage therapist before going to a farmer’s market for approximately 45 minutes.
She then stopped at a CVS pharmacy, which was captured via a surveillance camera, and later headed to a local pet food store. Arakawa’s car was seen on video shortly later as she returned to her home, using her clicker to gain access to the property.
Investigators discovered that she had numerous unopened emails on her computer since that day. While police are waiting on information from her cellphone use, it appears Arakawa’s last known communication took place on Feb. 11.
Mendoza and his team are still considering the case “an open investigation,” as there are “loose ends” to tie up regarding the exact dates of death for both Arakawa and Hackman.
New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell said during the same press conference that results from an autopsy performed on Feb. 27 revealed Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a rare rodent-transmitted virus. The manner of death was natural. She was 65.
During the presser, officials said they identified signs of rodent entry in the home, which could have led to the hantavirus spreading to Arakawa. Testing for hantavirus was negative for Hackman.
The legendary actor’s cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and “evidence of advanced Alzheimer’s disease” as a significant contributory factor. He was 95.
Mendoza believes Hackman was alone with his dead wife for seven days before he died, with Jarrell adding that it’s “quite possible” Hackman did not know Arakawa was dead given his mental state.
Per the search warrant, the deputies who first responded to the home “observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak.”
Arakawa was found lying on her side on the bathroom floor near a countertop that contained the “scattered” pills. Deputies believed she might have fallen.
There was a space heater near her head, which police suspected could have tumbled off the counter if she fell abruptly.
There was also “bloating in her face and mummification in her hands and feet,” which led authorities to believe the couple might have been dead anywhere from “several days” to “a couple of weeks” before they were discovered.
As for Hackman, his body was found in a room near the kitchen. It was suspected that he might have fallen, too, as his sunglasses were on the ground next to his body.
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