Gene Hackman Died a Week After Wife Betsy Arakawa, Both of Natural Causes

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/sheriff-gene-hackman-betsy-arakawa-1236331489/

33 comments

  1. > Gene Hackman likely died about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, passed away due to hantavirus, a medical examiner announced Friday.

    > Hackman died of cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s as a factor as well, said Heather Jarell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.

    > Arakawa likely died about a week earlier, on Feb. 11, of hantavirus, a potentially fatal virus transmitted by mice.

  2. Since when is dying of hantavirus, a virus transmitted by mice, considered “natural”?

  7. This raises so many more questions. What the heck is a hantavirus and how fast did it kill her?

  8. Just fucking awful. Alzheimer’s is one of the many tortures our so called “God” has inflicted on us.

    How the hell wasnt anyone checking in weekly with Hackman and Arakawa?  He had Alzheimer’s and obviously he needed a caregiver.

  9. wtf…so his wife died and he was too out of it because of his Alzheimer’s that he just slowly died/starved? And wtf is hantavirus? It is sudden onset and it just killed her?

  10. That’s horrible. Absolutely horrible. That’s why home health support that comes regularly is so critical when one member of the house is unable to care for themselves- it makes the other person so vulnerable

  11. Death is always sad but this one(s) certainly had extra sad twists.

  12. I guess that explains why the front door was open, strange still about the pills..

    Very sad all around. My heart goes out to the family.

    This is a good reminder, remember to check on your people.

  13. God, I’m so sad thinking about him and the dog(s) suffering for that week unable to get help 🙁 I really wish someone had checked in on them 🙁

  14. That virus is a problem in the American south west. I remember in the mid 90’s we were going to the 4 corners area, cancelled due to an outbreak.

  15. That’s so sad…
    She just dropped dead and he was too confused to know what was going on to seek medical help. Must have been roaming the house without the ability to look after himself for an entire week before succumbing to his health conditions.

  16. i wonder why they mentioned that his stomach was empty at the time of death? was starvation a factor in his death? i’m thinking that he collapsed from his heart issues and sheer panic on his way to get help and just couldn’t get back up for a week and then eventually succumbed

  19. Hate to “make this about me”, but it’s stories like this that make me somewhat glad my mom passed away out of nowhere from a heart attack at 60. The idea of seeing her with dimentia, barely able to function, then dying alone without even being found right away, and her dog dying too (or anything even close to as morbid as all of this)… I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

  20. Holy shit that is literally nightmare material. How tragic. Just so sad to go out like that. RIP.

  21. Wow this is worse than any of us thought.

    This is one of those tragedy stories you hear occasionally. A caretaker dies and leaves the one ill to themselves. And they don’t know what to do. 

  22. Can you imagine being so affected by Alzheimer’s that you can’t call for police or anyone else and you find your wife dead, you experience all of those horrible emotions, you forget about it, you find her again, over and over. All the while you might be dying of thirst or starvation. RIP to both of them.

  23. I commented last week why no one was checking on them. I was scolded, and told he lives with his 63 year old wife.

    And I said if my Dad was 95, I’m checking on him every other day. Well I was right, imagine that.

  24. What a horrific way for both of them to go. Hantavirus for her and Gene Hackman alive for a week with no metal faculties is just awful. Check on your elderly friends and family. If you don’t get a response go and physically check on them.

  25. So sad. This is why we make my elderly mother text every morning to make sure she is okay.

  27. Please check on your aging parents daily. I found out the hard way.

  29. I think the fear of having Hackman’s medical situation exposed contributed to them not having a caregiver come to the house. His compound was not easy to access either.

  30. This just hurts to read. Such a great life ended in such a horrible way.

  31. Hanta virus is natural causes I guess as opposed to foul play. Terrible story made even worse with the dog locked up.

  32. I wonder how long she was showing symptoms of the virus.

  33. Where were his scumbag kids????? They don’t check on their elderly dad daily????

    I bet they’ll be around for the reading of the will

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