Legendary Hollywood actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home Wednesday, prompting investigating officials to call their deaths “suspicious.”
The bodies of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found in separate rooms, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. One of their dogs was also found dead.
Hackman was an Oscar-winning actor who was best known for roles in “The French Connection,” “The Conversation” and “Unforgiven.” Arakawa was a classical pianist.
Here is what we know about their deaths.
How did they die?
It remains unclear how Hackman and Arakawa died, and officials are looking into the circumstances.
The sheriff’s office said Thursday afternoon that it has not determined a cause of death. Officials have said no signs of foul play are apparent, and an autopsy found no external trauma to either Hackman or Arakawa.
Toxicology and carbon monoxide tests were requested for both, and results are still pending, according to the sheriff’s office.
Law enforcement officials gather outside the home of actor Gene Hackman in Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday.Roberto Rosales / AP
The Santa Fe City Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, according to an affidavit for a search warrant, and New Mexico Gas Co. found no evidence indicating there was a problem with the pipes in and around the house.
“Circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation,” according to the affidavit.
When were they found?
Hackman and Arakawa were found Wednesday afternoon after someone called 911 to report the bodies. Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Thursday the couple had been dead “quite a while.”
A pest control worker was at the residence Wednesday and noticed the couple were not home, which was apparently unusual. The worker contacted a security officer in the subdivision, who went to the house and discovered the couple inside, Mendoza said.
Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., in January 2003.Jeffrey Mayer / WireImage file
A man who described himself as a caretaker of the subdivision called 911 to report the bodies, according to the call audio. He said that the door was locked and that he could not go inside, but that he saw them through the window and they were not moving.
Two maintenance workers said they found the couple’s front door ajar when they went to check on the residence, according to the affidavit.
Santa Fe County deputies “did not observe any signs of forced entry into the home,” according to the affidavit.
Where were they found?
Deputies found Arakawa’s body on the floor of a bathroom, according to the affidavit. A space heater was near her head, and an opened prescription bottle was on the counter with pills “scattered on the counter-top.” It was not immediately clear what kind of pills they were.
The deputies suspected “the heater could have fallen in the event the female abruptly fell to the ground.”
They then found the dead dog, a German shepherd, about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa in a closet in the bathroom.
