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Gene Hackman’s wife died from a rare infectious disease approximately a week before the actor’s death, medical investigators said.

The couple was found dead in their house in New Mexico on February 26, with one of their pet dogs. Police previously said that there was no apparent sign of unfair play.

Friday, during a press conference, in chief of the medical investigator for the New Mexico, Doctor Heather Jarrell, gave an update on the results of post-mortem surveys carried out after their death.

Doctor Jarrell said Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease. There was no sign of trauma and death was the result of natural causes, she said.

The doctor said that Akawa was probably died on February 11, the date on which she was known for communicating with people by email.

She said Hackman had advanced Alzheimer’s disease and died of heart disease, with The data from its cardiac stimulator is the last time February 18.

Due to his Alzheimer’s disease, “it is quite possible that he does not know that (his wife) had died,” added Dr. Jarrell.

The actor has tested negative for the Hantavirus, a rare disease is propagated by excrement of infected rodents.

Humans can contract Hantavirus by breathing in contaminated air, and symptoms can start in a week, or until eight weeks later. He is not transmitted from person to person.

Last year, seven confirmed cases of Hantavirus were confirmed to New Mexico, and Arakawa was the only confirmed person to have contracted him in the state in 2025. Between 1975 and 2023, the new-mexic recorded a total of 129 cases of Hantavirus, with 52 deaths.

The sheriff of the County of Santa Fe, Adan Mendoza, said that the authorities are still waiting for the data from the mobile phones found on the property, but it is “very unlikely that they will show something else”.

“There is no indication” that Hackman used a mobile phone or any other technology to communicate and that the couple lived a very private life before their death, he added.

The cause of the death of the couple’s dog was not confirmed, but it is now known that Arakawa had picked up the animal from the veterinarian, where he had undergone a procedure on February 9.

The procedure “may explain why (the dog) was in a box at the residence” while two surviving dogs were found wandering in the property, said Mendoza.

Hackman, who was widely respected as one of the greatest actors of his generation, was a quintuple nominated from the Oscars who won the best actor in a leading role for the French connection in 1972 and the best actor in a supporting role for an impardonive two decades later.

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During the Oscars last Sunday, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to Hackman. “A community has lost a giant and I lost a dear friend,” he said.

He met Arakawa, a concert pianist in the mid -80s and the couple got married in 1991.

Gene Hackman’s wife died from a rare infectious disease approximately a week before the actor’s death, medical investigators said.

The couple was found dead in their house in New Mexico on February 26, with one of their pet dogs. Police previously said that there was no apparent sign of unfair play.

Friday, during a press conference, in chief of the medical investigator for the New Mexico, Doctor Heather Jarrell, gave an update on the results of post-mortem surveys carried out after their death.

Doctor Jarrell said Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease. There was no sign of trauma and death was the result of natural causes, she said.

The doctor said that Akawa was probably died on February 11, the date on which she was known for communicating with people by email.

She said Hackman had advanced Alzheimer’s disease and died of heart disease, with The data from its cardiac stimulator is the last time February 18.

Due to his Alzheimer’s disease, “it is quite possible that he does not know that (his wife) had died,” added Dr. Jarrell.

The actor has tested negative for the Hantavirus, a rare disease is propagated by excrement of infected rodents.

Humans can contract Hantavirus by breathing in contaminated air, and symptoms can start in a week, or until eight weeks later. He is not transmitted from person to person.

Last year, seven confirmed cases of Hantavirus were confirmed to New Mexico, and Arakawa was the only confirmed person to have contracted him in the state in 2025. Between 1975 and 2023, the new-mexic recorded a total of 129 cases of Hantavirus, with 52 deaths.

The sheriff of the County of Santa Fe, Adan Mendoza, said that the authorities are still waiting for the data from the mobile phones found on the property, but it is “very unlikely that they will show something else”.

“There is no indication” that Hackman used a mobile phone or any other technology to communicate and that the couple lived a very private life before their death, he added.

The cause of the death of the couple’s dog was not confirmed, but it is now known that Arakawa had picked up the animal from the veterinarian, where he had undergone a procedure on February 9.

The procedure “may explain why (the dog) was in a box at the residence” while two surviving dogs were found wandering in the property, said Mendoza.

Hackman, who was widely respected as one of the greatest actors of his generation, was a quintuple nominated from the Oscars who won the best actor in a leading role for the French connection in 1972 and the best actor in a supporting role for an impardonive two decades later.

More Sky News:
The Damné Founding Member dies
King Charles reveals his favorite music

During the Oscars last Sunday, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to Hackman. “A community has lost a giant and I lost a dear friend,” he said.

He met Arakawa, a concert pianist in the mid -80s and the couple got married in 1991.

Gene Hackman’s wife died from a rare infectious disease approximately a week before the actor’s death, medical investigators said.

The couple was found dead in their house in New Mexico on February 26, with one of their pet dogs. Police previously said that there was no apparent sign of unfair play.

Friday, during a press conference, in chief of the medical investigator for the New Mexico, Doctor Heather Jarrell, gave an update on the results of post-mortem surveys carried out after their death.

Doctor Jarrell said Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease. There was no sign of trauma and death was the result of natural causes, she said.

The doctor said that Akawa was probably died on February 11, the date on which she was known for communicating with people by email.

She said Hackman had advanced Alzheimer’s disease and died of heart disease, with The data from its cardiac stimulator is the last time February 18.

Due to his Alzheimer’s disease, “it is quite possible that he does not know that (his wife) had died,” added Dr. Jarrell.

The actor has tested negative for the Hantavirus, a rare disease is propagated by excrement of infected rodents.

Humans can contract Hantavirus by breathing in contaminated air, and symptoms can start in a week, or until eight weeks later. He is not transmitted from person to person.

Last year, seven confirmed cases of Hantavirus were confirmed to New Mexico, and Arakawa was the only confirmed person to have contracted him in the state in 2025. Between 1975 and 2023, the new-mexic recorded a total of 129 cases of Hantavirus, with 52 deaths.

The sheriff of the County of Santa Fe, Adan Mendoza, said that the authorities are still waiting for the data from the mobile phones found on the property, but it is “very unlikely that they will show something else”.

“There is no indication” that Hackman used a mobile phone or any other technology to communicate and that the couple lived a very private life before their death, he added.

The cause of the death of the couple’s dog was not confirmed, but it is now known that Arakawa had picked up the animal from the veterinarian, where he had undergone a procedure on February 9.

The procedure “may explain why (the dog) was in a box at the residence” while two surviving dogs were found wandering in the property, said Mendoza.

Hackman, who was widely respected as one of the greatest actors of his generation, was a quintuple nominated from the Oscars who won the best actor in a leading role for the French connection in 1972 and the best actor in a supporting role for an impardonive two decades later.

More Sky News:
The Damné Founding Member dies
King Charles reveals his favorite music

During the Oscars last Sunday, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to Hackman. “A community has lost a giant and I lost a dear friend,” he said.

He met Arakawa, a concert pianist in the mid -80s and the couple got married in 1991.