When police discovered the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa in February, the Santa Fe sheriff’s office did too much to minimize the situation initially. The sheriff basically spent the first 24 hours shrugging off calls to investigate and insisting that there was nothing suspicious about their deaths. Soon enough, the sheriff’s office announced a full investigation of what they now determined to be “suspicious” deaths. Two Fridays ago, the sheriff announced the results of their investigation, which is that Arakawa passed away on February 11th from the hantavirus, and Hackman passed away one week later from heart failure. Well, looks like the investigation was incomplete – they missed the fact that Arakawa was still alive on Feb. 12, and that she called a medical service.
New details have emerged in the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa Hackman that are shifting the timeline of events.
According to ABC News, officials are now saying that Betsy called a medical service the morning after she was previously thought to have died. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that during the early hours of Feb. 12, Betsy called Cloudberry, a medical concierge service that provides credentialed doctors to patients seeking help. Daily Mail reportedly spoke to a doctor from Cloudberry who confirmed Betsy contacted their office on Feb. 12.
Betsy was previously believed to have died Feb. 11, with her cause of death determined to be Hantavirus, a rare flu-like virus transmitted through rodent droppings, according to Heather Jarrell, New Mexico’s chief medical examiner. She was last seen publicly that same day, Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed.
“That would indicate to me that she was seeking medical advice or medical help and may have not been feeling well,” Mendoza told Good Morning America of the revelation March 17.
Good Morning America also reached out to Cloudberry, who confirmed that Betsy contacted them to inquire about “esoteric treatment” that morning. They further noted that there were no signs of breathing issues or distress, and the office returned her call twice, but never heard back.
The Hackmans were both found dead in their home on Feb. 26, with their bodies in advanced states of decomposition. A pest control worker, who stopped by the couple’s home and grew suspicious after they didn’t answer the door, called a neighborhood security officer who coordinated with authorities to make the discovery.
Yeah, it’s likely that Arakawa passed away on February 12th, one day later than initially believed. But this kind of mistake doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the Santa Fe sheriff’s department, that they completely missed this phone call. Did they just… not look at the phone records at all? It would also be interesting to learn about who tried to contact Arakawa and Hackman in that awful two-week period in February before their remains were found. I still find it so hard to believe that this pest control worker was the only person who stopped by the house in over two weeks.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
