The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have become even more mysterious. A doctor from Santa Fe has made a surprising claim that adds to the confusion. Dr. Josiah Child of Cloudberry Health in New Mexico stated that Arakawa contacted his clinic on February 12, a day after authorities reported her passing on February 11.
According to Dr. Child, Arakawa had called his clinic to schedule an appointment for a non-respiratory issue. He mentioned that she had previously inquired about an echocardiogram for her husband. Despite not being a regular patient, she was recommended to the clinic by someone else. However, Arakawa canceled her appointment two days before the scheduled visit, citing her husband’s illness.
The medical examiner had previously attributed Arakawa’s death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare respiratory disease transmitted by rats. But Dr. Child’s account contradicts this conclusion, suggesting that Arakawa was alive after the reported date of her death. He mentioned that she failed to show up for the rescheduled appointment and did not display any respiratory distress symptoms.
The medical examiner also reported that Gene Hackman suffered from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor to his passing. The couple’s dog, recovering from surgery in a crate, was found dead due to starvation and dehydration, as revealed by a state necropsy report. Gene’s pacemaker recorded abnormal heart activity on February 18, the last day of his recorded activity, indicating further complexities in the case.
