Authorities are piecing together more information about Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa‘s deaths.
After the couple and one of their three dogs were found dead in their New Mexico home Feb. 26, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza shared how long he believed the bodies were there before they were found.
“It’s very difficult to put a timeline together, even with the help of the Office of the Medical Investigator,” the official emphasized to Savannah Guthrie on Today Feb. 28. “Just based on their body and other evidence on the body, it appears several days, possibly even up to a couple of weeks.”
He also believes the deaths of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, happened “pretty close” time-wise. However, that is just a theory for now.
“There was no indication that anybody was moving about the house or doing anything different,” he continued, “so it’s very hard to determine if they both passed at the time or how close they passed together.”
Hackman and Arakawa, who tied the knot in 1991, moved to New Mexico after he retired from film in 2004. Unfortunately, Mendoza admitted that their extremely private life in Santa Fe has put authorities at a disadvantage as they continue to figure out their final days.
“We’re trying to put things together, put together a timeline—when the decedents were last seen and were spoken to,” he explained. “We understand that is a challenge because they were very private individuals and a private family. We’re trying to put all that information together right now.”
Although their manner of death is still unknown, according to the affidavit from a Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detective obtained by E! News, Mendoza doesn’t believe there was any foul play at this moment.
“I’m pretty confident that there is no foul play just based on the lack of evidence,” he told Savannah. “But, of course, we’re not ruling that out. I think the autopsy results, the official results, are going to help steer us in the right direction.”
For now, officials are sitting tight as they await the reports, which Mendoza said “is going to be the key to this investigation.”
Some details regarding Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths have come to light with the affidavit, which said that the latter’s body showed “obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet.” Meanwhile, the French Connection actor “showed obvious signs of death, similar and consistent with the female decedent.”
Despite speculations that there may have been a gas leak, the detective noted in the document that investigators “did not locate signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning.”
“At this time, the manner and cause of death pertaining to Eugene ‘Gene’ Allen Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s passing is unknown,” the affidavit continued, noting that the circumstances around their deaths are “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”
As we await more details, read on for a look back at Hackman’s life.
(E! News and Today are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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