Gene Hackman dead at 95: Iconic actor and wife, 63, are found dead with their dog at Santa Fe home. #3

[Sunshynn]

Yeah, I'm kinda thinking that too. Considering that she was running all those errands, doesn't sit right with someone who is feeling sick.

Just to add a little personal anecdote.
Several years ago my dad was very sick with what he thought was the flu and soldiered on and even traveled to a work meeting.
He comes home from the work meeting and my stepmom calls me in a panic saying can you convince your dad to go the hospital - he has sweated through his clothes and is so sick.
Fast forward and within 24 hours he is on a vent and initially diagnosed with pneumonia but turns into legionnaires disease (which is why I threw the medical hypothesis out in an earlier thread).
He’s fine now but shows how quickly a sickness and stubbornness to take care of yourself can turn potentially life threatening.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Very advanced Alzheimer's and very advanced heart disease for Gene. Hantavirus for Betsy. But where she was exposed was not clear. They said the Main House showed no evidence of rodent infestation, but that another building on the property did-- but that was not gone into.

I wonder if they checked back at the Farmer's Market...

 

[Warwick7]

Where was the dog crate kept before it was in the house? Maybe in one of their outbuildings where she may have had to sweep up a bit to retrieve it.

I agree.....

 

[scoodyboo]

Questions:
Did her email on 2/11 with massage therapist mention feeling under the weather?
What did she get at CVS pharmacy?
She could have been exposed - as others said - maybe getting the crate from a shed where the mice were - and then started feeling sick.
They said she was wearing a mask while running her errands on 2/11 so could have had a cough or other symptoms.
If she felt lousy, could have stayed off of her phone or computer but it seems this hantavirus could have knocked her out given the few days of potential exposure - all speculation of course.
Hard to think of poor Gene not knowing what had happened? Did he feed the dogs? Did he eat some food? They said he wasn't dehydrated so must have had some capacity.
Makes me so sad,

 

[priyaya]

so the 2 uncrated dogs....
Betsy was gone on the 11th,
meaning it was 15 days until anyone else could have taken care of the dogs.
they also would have had an alive Gene who managed to somehow keep himself alive for 6/7 days alone
surely the dogs interacted with him.
could he have also fed them and left them water
yet still not known about his wife and the caged dog?

 

[Joe Friday]

For BA to go to the Farmers Market, the Drug Store and a Pet Food Store on the 11th before going home on the evening of the 11th, doesn't really fit for someone that must have been feeling sickened from the Hantavirus and passing likely within the next 12 hours.

She arrived at the subdivision gate at 5:15 PM, I would think she must have been feeling terrible at this time. I can see her going to the Drug Store to get medicine to help with the symptoms of the virus and maybe getting food for her beloved dogs if they were out of food and known it may be some time before she would feel well enough to go out again, but the Farmers Market????? A Farmers Market just doesn't seem to be a likely place for someone to go in the condition she must have been in if she was to pass so soon afterwards.

JMO

 

[Warwick7]

NO.
It's not known for sure when Betsy died. She seemed to be in good health on the 11th. Just because she didn't send any emails or texts doesn't mean she died then.

They said that typically people are ill for 3 to 6 days with hantavirus before it turns fatal, and the symptoms are like flu. So it's entirely possible that Betsy soldiered on for a few days thinking she had a flu-like virus, but not that it was anything fatal.

Yes, however M00 after the presser is, that the evening of the 11th all activity ceased. M00 is I'm going with that.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I wonder if they checked back at the Farmer's Market...

Betsy didn't go to the Farmer's Market. She went to a local grocery chain called Sprouts. Then CVS, and a local petfood store. That's what I heard.

 

[priyaya]

Questions:
Did her email on 2/11 with massage therapist mention feeling under the weather?

no, but muscle aches are a major symptom of hantavirus

What did she get at CVS pharmacy?

They havent asked (not relevant) HIPPA Laws wont really allow for it

 

[priyaya]

Betsy didn't go to the Farmer's Market. She went to a local grocery chain called Sprouts. Then CVS, and a local petfood store. That's what I heard.

Sprouts is a healthy grocery store chain, kinda set up like a farmers market inside

 

[SortaSleuthy]

I guess there were no cameras in or around the home.

As someone who was a caregiver, the burden is really hard. I had a lot of help and it was still physically and emotionally exhausting

My wife has Altz. and I’m her caregiver. The burden is so hard, like you said. Plus, I’m 85 and on oxygen for a fatal lung disease.

 

[priyaya]

All phone activity ceased on the 11th. It's a pretty good indicator that life ended on the 11th.
M00

The Medical Examiner seemed fairly certain about this as well

 

[Friday Fan]

I think they may be running into a liability issue here with the extermination company
although with Betsy's own mother with dementia dont know who would actually sue.

I wish, but exterminators probably offer no guarantee of results. I've fired many of them. The only guarantee we had was that they would reseal holes for free within a year and for insects they come out and retreat before the next scheduled service. That's all. As for elimination of pests? No way!!!

 

[Izzylizzy]

Was anything mentioned about when BA went to the vets, farmer's market and store that there was someone at the house watching over Gene?
IMO:
I can't see leaving a person with Alzheimers and/or advanced Alzheimers alone.

 

[NuttMegg]

Poor Gene. I can just imagine him coming across Betsy's body over and over again, and then immediately forgetting, over and over again. That could surely throw his already ailing heart over the edge.

I wonder if he found her on the floor, then maybe it was he who opened the medicine bottle and scattered the contents.

 

[ClearAhead]

Yeah, I'm kinda thinking that too. Considering that she was running all those errands, doesn't sit right with someone who is feeling sick.

She likely came home felt sick later that day and cocooned. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought she had the flu.

The Chief Medical Examiner never stated she died on the 11th, that was simply the last day it was known she was alive. She went on to state over a few days the lungs of the hantavirus victim would begin to fill with fluid, causing them to feel very ill, then possibly causing a fall from sudden heart attack. In response to a reporters question, the CME doubted she would’ve lingered ill on the floor of the bathroom for an extensive period of time. But what specific day it was that she died couldn’t be determined.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

A note on Santa Fe and mice. Everyone has them. They are everywhere. We've been dealing with a rodent exclusion/trapping company for almost a year, as they've tried to find out how they're entering our house. In our neighborhood, they are in car engines, sheds, outbuildings, and homes. Money helps, but everyone has them. -- But this is the first time I've ever heard about hantavirus! I'm having dinner with a NM wildlife biologist tonight, so I can't wait to ask him about this.

 

[Friday Fan]

no, but muscle aches are a major symptom of hantavirus

They havent asked (not relevant) HIPPA Laws wont really allow for it

HIPAA Laws generally do not apply when someone is deceased.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

They said BA did send texts and emails on the evening of the 11th. But not afterward.

So it seems to me that she might have felt ok or perhaps the beginnings of flu-like symptoms on the 11th. The ME said 3-6 days of those symptoms often precede quick death. So maybe BA was alive for several days, perhaps feeling sick but still able to microwave soup for her and GH, etc. Kept the dogs fed and watered. (I wonder if Zinna had food and water in her crate with her?) But not well enough to deal with emails or call friends. Hopefully this means the number of days GH and Zinna were alone after she died were just a few.

 

[NuttMegg]

Was anything mentioned about when BA went to the vets, farmer's market and store that there was someone at the house watching over Gene?
IMO:
I can't see leaving a person with Alzheimers and/or advanced Alzheimers alone.

A person can have a lot of plaque yet hardly lose cognition. And vice versa, a person can have zero plaque, yet be very affected.

"The end of Alzheimers" by Bredesen is what our functional medicine doctor is using to treat my relative. And for prevention.