A private healthcare clinic in New Mexico claims that Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, made a phone call to their clinic on February 12th, the day after the police claim she died. Dr. Josiah Child, the head of Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, where the couple lived, told the Mail on Sunday that Arakawa called to make an appointment for herself on February 12th. The timing of her call raises doubts about the official findings of her death. Postmortem results indicated that Arakawa died of hantavirus, a rare respiratory disease, on February 11th, a week before her husband is believed to have died from heart disease. However, Dr. Child stated that Arakawa did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress and had called the clinic two weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram for her husband. She had made the appointment for herself on February 12th, but canceled it two days before due to her husband’s illness. On the morning of February 12th, she called back and spoke to one of the clinic’s doctors, who advised her to come in that afternoon. However, she never showed up for the appointment. Dr. Child also confirmed that Arakawa had described some congestion but did not mention any respiratory distress or symptoms related to hantavirus. The Santa Fe county sheriff’s office has now confirmed that Arakawa made multiple calls to the clinic on February 12th. It is unclear why this information has taken so long to come to light, as her previous date of death was based on the assumption that she had no communication after February 11th. On that day, Arakawa was seen visiting several Santa Fe shops, including a chemist, pet food store, and supermarket. Both Arakawa and Hackman were found dead in their home, with signs of mummification and bloating. One of the couple’s three dogs, which was in a crate recovering from surgery, died of starvation and dehydration. The official cause of death has been questioned by Dr. Child, who stated that most patients diagnosed with hantavirus die in the hospital. Experts also mentioned that respiratory failure is not sudden and that it is exceedingly rare for a seemingly healthy 65-year-old to drop dead from it. Representatives for the Hackman estate had previously attempted to block the release of autopsy and investigative reports related to the couple’s deaths.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/20/santa-fe-clinic-says-gene-hackman-wife-betsy-arakawa-called-day-after-police-say-she-died