Betsy’s final moments captured.
Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, was captured on surveillance cameras just hours before her mysterious death—offering haunting final glimpses of her daily life.
Gene and Betsy’s private lives highlighted.
The couple had largely retreated from the public eye, living quietly in Santa Fe after Hackman’s retirement from acting two decades ago.
Arakawa, born in Hawaii, was a classically trained pianist who met Hackman in the 1980s while working at a fitness center in Los Angeles.
They married in 1991 and were often described by friends as a tight-knit and private couple, rarely seen apart.
Couple’s deaths profiled.
They weren’t discovered until February 26, alongside the body of their dog Zinna—one of three Arakawa had recently bought food for.
On February 18, Gene Hackman’s pacemaker registered its final signal.
Authorities believe that’s when both Hackman, 95, and Arakawa passed away inside their Santa Fe home.
The official cause of death for Betsy Arakawa was later confirmed as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome—a rare rodent-borne illness.
Medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell stated the disease likely progressed rapidly, though how she contracted it remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, Hackman’s cause of death was listed as hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s noted as a contributing factor.
Their deaths are being treated as natural, though the sequence of events and timing has stirred intense public interest.
But what exactly happened between Betsy’s final calls and their discovery remains murky, despite the patchwork of digital breadcrumbs.
Betsy’s final days chronicled.
The day before the footage, Arakawa reportedly Googled “can Covid cause dizziness”—a chilling hint at possible symptoms she may have been experiencing.
According to police, this search raised red flags when piecing together the puzzle of her death timeline.
Initially, the Santa Fe medical examiner reported February 11 as the last time Arakawa was known to be alive.
However, an unexpected twist came when a Santa Fe clinic said they spoke to Arakawa the next day—February 12.
Dr. Josiah Child, head of Cloudberry Health, confirmed she called in that morning to cancel an appointment.
“Mrs. Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12,” Dr. Child told the Daily Mail.
He revealed she’d previously contacted the clinic to discuss getting a heart scan for Gene Hackman, not for herself.
The February 12 appointment was apparently made for her own evaluation—but wasn’t related to respiratory symptoms, he emphasized.
She missed that appointment, and no one at the clinic could reach her afterward.
Later that afternoon, a missed call from the clinic was recorded on Arakawa’s phone—her final known phone activity.
Sheriff’s investigators confirmed her device made three outgoing calls that morning, all to the same clinic.
“This information was learned through investigation into the cell phone data contained on her phone,” the sheriff’s office stated.
Then came six days of eerie silence—no more calls, no messages, no activity.
Betsy’s last hours confirmed.
The 65-year-old former classical pianist was seen in a black coat, jeans, and face mask as she shopped at Sprouts Farmers Market in Santa Fe on February 11.
Footage timestamped just after 4:00 p.m. shows her calmly paying for groceries—a routine moment that would later become a critical part of a tragic timeline.
Minutes later, cameras at Shine Pet Food Co. recorded her buying supplies for her three dogs, including Zinna, who had just returned from the vet.
Investigators confirmed the footage matches Arakawa’s last confirmed public appearance—seemingly unaware anything was wrong.
But now, officials are digging deeper into the hours between this shopping trip and the sudden silence that followed.
Eerie footage sparks public interest.
While many details remain unclear, the eerie footage and final phone logs offer a tragic glimpse into the couple’s last days.
And now, with confirmation of the rare and deadly virus at the center of this double tragedy, one thing is certain: this case is far from ordinary.