Gene Hackman and Wife Arakawa Found Dead Inside New Mexico Home
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office said it did not believe that “foul play was a factor,” but later told TMZ nothing has been ruled out amid ongoing investigation.

Legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead inside their home on Wednesday in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A spokesperson for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to media outlets Thursday morning: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail. This is an active investigation — however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”
Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed that one of Hackman and Arakawa’s dogs was also found dead, later telling TMZ that two other dogs had survived.
The couple was found during a welfare check around 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday after their neighbor called in concerned about their well-being, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Denise Avila told ABC News.
Mendoza, in an interview with TMZ on Thursday morning, said his office had obtained a search warrant and was not ruling anything out as it continues to investigate. Mendoza told the outlet that his deputies determined that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for at least a day and that no visible trauma was discovered, but that they could have been victims of a double homicide, suicide, accidental death or natural causes.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 64, had lived in Santa Fe since the 1980s in a home located in a gated community northeast of the city.
They were last photographed together on March 28 at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Santa Fe. The 2003 Golden Globes, where Hackman received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, is believed to be the last Hollywood event they attended together.
After news broke of Hackman’s death, Francis Ford Coppola, Viola Davis and Antonio Banderas were among those paying tribute to the two-time Oscar winner.
Hackman was known for playing tough guys and starring in such classic films as The French Connection, Bonnie and Clyde, I Never Sang for My Father, The Conversation, Hoosiers and Unforgiven. He retired from acting in his 70s and was last seen on screen in the 2004 satirical comedy Welcome to Mooseport. Since then, Hackman had lived a quiet, private life in Santa Fe and rarely gave interviews.
Hackman divorced his first wife, Faye Maltese, in 1986. He met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist, while she was working part-time in a California fitness center. They moved to Santa Fe in the late 1980s and married in 1991. She became stepmother to his three children, Elizabeth Jean, Christopher and Leslie Anne.
Arakawa, reportedly born in Hawaii, was a private person and had no social media presence. Hackman, who pivoted to writing novels in the 2000s, very rarely spoke about her but did say she helped him hone his writing.