Police officer made comment about Gene Hackman's ‘last moments’ as wife's final internet searches revealed

A police officer who found Gene Hackman's body made a comment where he speculated on the actor's last moments.

Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead at their home in Santa Fe on 26 February several days after either of them had last been heard from.

Arakawa is thought to have died on 12 February of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a few hours after she had called a medical concierge three times on the morning of that day but did not return a call in the afternoon.

Her husband's cause of death was ruled as 'hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributory factor', and the last data from his pacemaker came on 18 February.

Found with no food in his stomach indicating that he did not eat for some time before his death, Hackman's Alzheimer's may mean he was not aware his wife had died.

The actor and his wife were found dead at their home in February (Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Officers confirmed that there were no signs of foul play at the scene, and also found one of the couple's dogs dead in the house along with them, likely of dehydration.

Two other dogs were recovered from the home, with them having led the emergency services towards the bodies of Hackman and Arakawa when they arrived at the house.

Police bodycam footage released yesterday (15 April) showed officers walking around inside the house and finding the bodies, with them noting that one of their dogs sitting by Arakawa's body looked 'sad'.

When officers found Hackman's body in the house's mud room he was on the floor with sunglasses and a walking stick lying beside him.

"It looks like he was trying to go outside," one of the officers observed when they came across the actor's body.

A police officer who found Hackman's body observed that 'it looks like he was trying to go outside' when he died (Vera Anderson/WireImage)

An investigator's report said they'd found Hackman's extremities to be 'red and purple in color' when his body was discovered, and it 'appeared as if the male suddenly collapsed'.

Authorities released a lot of information about their investigation yesterday, including internet searches done by Betsy Arakawa shortly before her death.

Her computer activity showed she was searching medical conditions related to Covid-19 and flu-like symptoms between 8 February and 12 February.

Among her searches were attempts to find out whether the coronavirus could cause dizziness or nosebleeds, and on 11 February she emailed her masseuse to say Hackman had woken up with symptoms like a cold or flu, but tested negative for Covid.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is typically transmitted by rodents, and investigators found signs of a rodent infestation at the home.