Betsy Arakawa seemed to rely on his normal routine in early February.
She went shopping around Santa Fe while wearing a facial mask. She visited a sprouts, a CVS pharmacy and a pet store while sending an email to her massage therapist, officials said.
Investigators now believe that she died two days later on February 11. Her body was later found in the house of the house she shared with her husband, actor Gene Hackman. The prescription pills were dispersed on a nearby counter.
Hackman, 95, seems to have lived inside the house for several days, succumbing to heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. He was found in another room with a walking rod and a pair of sunglasses near his body. Officials believe that he died on February 18.
Their bodies were discovered on February 26 by maintenance workers from their home in the Santa Fe Summit housing community.
The tragic revelations, carried out Friday by the authorities of the New Mexico, resolve many questions raised by unusual deaths.
Hackman lived in Santa Fe for years, abandoning the Hollywood glitter for a quieter life of painting, community events, bicycle and pilates with his classic pianist wife, friends said. His health seemed to decrease lately, and Arakawa has been dealing with him, friends said.
What do we know about Hackman’s death?
Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner at the office of the medical investigator, made the autopsy on Hackman and said that his brain showed “advanced Alzheimer’s disease as well as blood vessel changes in the secondary brain to chronic blood pressure.”
“He was in a very poor state of health. He had a significant heart disease, and I think in the end, that’s what led his death, “said Jarrell.
When asked if Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease prevented him from being able to say if his wife had died, Jarrell could not say.
“I think this question is difficult to answer, but I can tell you that it was in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s, and it is quite possible that it does not know that it had died,” said Jarrell.
And Arakawa?
The investigators reconstructed the last days of Arakawa thanks to surveillance images and emails, according to the sheriff of the County of Santa Fe, Adan Mendoza.
She picked up her dog in a veterinary hospital on February 9. Then, she was seen on surveillance images on February 11 in a local Spruts supermarket around 3:30 p.m. and a CVS pharmacy shortly before 4.30 p.m., according to investigators.
She stopped in a pet food store and shortly before 5 p.m., he returned to his neighborhood and activated the remote control to open the door of his subdivision. Earlier in the day, Arakawa wrote to its massage therapist by email. There was no activity by email the next day, according to the officials.
Although Jarrell did not determine exactly where Arakawa contracted Hantavirus, they noted that it is transmitted by rodent excrement or saliva, and characterized by symptoms of flu, fever, muscle pain, cough, vomiting and diarrhea.
Erin Phipps, veterinarian of public health in the state of the New Mexico, said that there were signs of entry of rodents in certain structures on the property.
About 38% to 50% of people in the southwest who are infected and feel respiratory symptoms die of the disease, officials said.
What do we know about how the couple was found?
They were found by a pair of interview workers from their housing community shortly before 2 p.m. on February 26.
The workers then informed a community goalkeeper, who went home and then called 911.
The goalkeeper did not have all the information when he called but said that he was looking through a window of two bodies lying on the ground inside.
The caller can be heard on the 911 audio saying to the distributor that he could see what seemed to be two motionless bodies inside the house. Shaken, he said on several occasions “damn” and urges the authorities to respond quickly.
“No, they don’t move. Please send someone here quickly, ”said the appellant.
Hackman’s body was found on the floor near the kitchen and a cloakroom, according to a judicial affidavit. Arakawa’s body was found in a bathroom by the main entrance to the house, and the prescription pills were dispersed on a nearby counter. Mendoza said he could not disclose details on prescriptions due to the Health Insurance Act and Responsibility.
The positioning of the couple’s body indicated that they could suddenly fall, according to the affidavit.
A dog was found dead inside the house while two other dogs were alive on the property and were able to enter and get out of the residence by a door on the back. The cause of the dog’s death is unknown.
Officials later revealed that they had eliminated medication to treat high blood pressure, tylenol and a medication to treat the thyroid, according to the judicial archives.
What do we know about Hantavirus?
The condition is rare but fatal – with a mortality rate between 38% and 50% among those infected in the American southwest, said Jarrell.
Hantavirus are a family of viruses propagated by rodent excrement, saliva and urine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most Hantavirus found in the United States can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
People can contract syndrome by breathing in the air during cleaning after rodents. It can also be distributed by touching contaminated objects, then touching your nose or your mouth, being bitten or a radius of infected rodent or eating food contaminated by Hantavirus, depending on the CDC.
Phipps noted that the house of Arakawa and Hackman had a “low risk” of exposure to the Hantavirus, but said that there were signs of rodents in other structures on the property. She has said that in the past five years, the New Mexico has confirmed one to seven cases of Hantavirus each year.
A total of 122 cases and 52 deaths were reported to the New Mexico between 1993, when surveillance began, and 2022, the most recent year for which the CDC has data accessible to the public. California reported 78 cases and 24 deaths at the same time.
California cases include a Hantavirus epidemic at Yosemite National Park In the summer of 2012, this infected visitors staying in tent cabins. Of the 10 infected people, eight underwent hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, five required intensive care with ventilatory support and three are dead.
Deer mouse is the most common vector of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the United States, according to the CDC.
