Gene Hackman & Wife Betsy Arakawa Found ‘Mummified’ At $3M Mansion, Police Call Deaths ‘Suspicious’

Alessio AtriaFebruary 28, 2025, 12:38 pmHome Featured, News >

Actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found partially mummified at their mansion. On Feb. 26, Hackman, Arakawa and their dog were found dead in their mansion in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city.

A search warrant revealed that Arakawa was found decomposed with bloating on her face and mummification in her hands and feet. Sheriffs stated that Hackman was found to have the same signs of decomposition as his wife.

Mummification happens when a person’s skin and tissues are preserved after death. It can occur if a body is left with cold, dry air where bacteria struggle to grow. Santa Fe has such a climate during winter.

Two maintenance workers, Roland Lowe Begay and Jesse Kesler, discovered the couple’s bodies at their mansion on Wednesday at 1:46 pm Mountain Time. uInterview obtained the audio of the 911 call.

The identities of the deceased were not released for almost 12 hours, with details of how they were found now giving a potential explanation for the delay.

Begay and Kesler told the investigators that they had not seen them for two weeks. Hackman and his wife seemed to have been dead for a while.

A detective said in the search warrant that “the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

Arakawa was found lying on the bathroom floor of her home on her right side, with an open prescription bottle of pills spread across a nearby countertop. The type of pills was not disclosed, and if they were prescribed to her or her husband.

A space heater was found next to her head, which investigators think might have fallen.

She was wearing dark grey sweatpants and a light-colored sweatshirt.

Hackman was found dead in a mud room off his kitchen, the warrant noted. Police first saw his legs on the ground in what seemed to be a mud room. The actor was fully clothed, in gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeve t-shirt, and brown slippers. His sunglasses and walking cane were found next to his body, indicating that he possibly died of a sudden fall.

One of the couple’s three dogs, a German Shepherd, was found dead about ten to 15 feet away from Arakawa in a closet just off the bathroom.

Initial reports suggested the animal was found dead in a kennel. The other two dogs were unharmed. One of the surviving dogs was found alive next to Arakawa’s body, while the other one roamed the property.

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila said on Thursday morning that deputies responded to a welfare check request at the home at approximately 1:45 pm Wednesday. The welfare check was conducted after a neighbor called authorities, concerned about the couple’s well-being.

The caller, who identified himself as a caretaker in the subdivision, told the dispatcher that he saw the motionless bodies of a man and woman through the windows of the locked mansion.

The Santa Fe County police found the actor and his wife dead on Wednesday afternoon. By midnight on Thursday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed their deaths, as well as their dog’s death.

In an interview on Wednesday evening, Mendoza said there was no immediate hint of foul play, but the sheriff’s office noted that an investigation is ongoing. Additionally, the Santa Fe county sheriff did not deliver a cause of death or say when Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 64, might have died.