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

[NuttMegg]

Yes initially I thought perhaps the dog’s surgery was related to a leg joint but now I notice it was major internal surgery. I’m thinking that’s not one and the same. Zinna was 12 years old and I’m sure experienced an amazing life after the Hackmans adopted her from a shelter but part of me wonders if her death was related to post surgical complications. And in trying to comfort the dog, Betsy was already extremely ill herself. Purely speculation, It’s just that I’d rather not imagine a dehydrated dog’s slow death over a period of many days.

It's really hard to protect a dog from licking their leg, tearing at bandages by using a crate. You'd be surprised at the gyrations possible within a crate. Much more successful to use a cone. Again, from experience.

 

[Megnut]

It's really hard to protect a dog from licking their leg, tearing at bandages by using a crate. You'd be surprised at the gyrations possible within a crate. Much more successful to use a cone. Again, from experience.

I think it was to prevent Zinna from exerting herself, running, keeping up with the other dogs. Crated to keep him/her sedate...

JMO

 

[NuttMegg]

I think it was to prevent Zinna from exerting herself, running, keeping up with the other dogs. Crated to keep him/her sedate...

JMO

And vice versa, meaning them rough housing with her. Agreed.

 

[angkg]

I had a neighbor who got hantavirus. They went to stay at a cabin and used a fan from the closet. The fan had dust on it and that is where she picked it up. She was sick for years from it; like long-term lung disease and fatigue. I wonder how many days from the 11th Betsy lived but suffered. I imagine she thought she could beat this “illness”, not knowing how sick she really was. I also had a neighbor who was only 25 and died in his sleep from pneumonia. He was out mowing is lawn the night prior and said he didn’t feel well. They said say he didn’t have the strength to sit up in bed and basically drowned from the fluid in his lungs. You just don’t know how quickly this can take you.

 

[priyaya]

So another thing to point out i just noticed in the USA today article. They focus on her not picking up the dog medication as being a people knew something was wrong and tried calling with no response.
it shows this photo of 2 Sprout Farmers Market location between the vet who had the medications and the house
I assume she went to the one closer to the house (they should know that) and didn't go the the one on the way to the hospital. Its not exactly clear when the hospital notified her of the prescriptions but if it was also around or just before the 11th, would be strange to skip the vet pickup with her other activities unless she wasn't feeling great. maybe it was too late in the day too, but just trying to think of ways she might have missed picking up those meds which i assume would be a priority

 

[al66pine]

Ms Arakawa's Errands. Dog Food?

Based on the news about BA’s final movements, it seems that she was feeling quite sick on the evening of 2/11 and trying to get those last few errands over with before heading home. I even wonder if she went to Sprouts not only for food, but because of their large selection of homeopathic medicine. She probably intended to get the dog food as well but decided she wasn’t up for it and went home, where her condition deteriorated. I feel she was gone within a day.

@jennytrevor
Yes, Sprouts has large selection of homeopathic medicine.
Entirely possible that she bought dog food at Sprouts.

But AFTER she was at Sprouts (2 stores in area),
she went to CVS pharmacy (3 stores in. area)
THEN she went to local pet food store (unnamed).

The exact order of errands may or may not be relevant. IDK.

___________________________
Tedious detail alert.
Per Sheriff's stmt at media Conf. Mar 7, surveillance shows:
- 3.30 and 4.15 p.m, Sprouts Farmers Market
- 4.12 to 4.20 p.m., CVS Pharmacy
- 4.54 p.m., local pet food store
- 5:15 at entry to gated community.

From transcript:
"Mrs. Arakawa had an email conversation with her massage therapist at about 11.21 a.m. Moving on into the afternoon, Ms. Arakawa was at the Sprouts Farmers Market between 3.30 and 4.15 p.m. Ms. Arakawa was seen on surveillance video at the CVS Pharmacy in Santa Fe from 4.12 to 4.20 p.m. She then stopped at a local pet food store at about 4.54 p.m. Her car was seen on surveillance and the remote control clicker that is assigned to her and her vehicle was used to enter the subdivision to gain access to the gated community at 5.15 p.m."

https://turboscribe.ai/transcript/share/4980981187887858464/36FWZhd5l3_dwbhcUFWaBXevd-hLrekSeP3lRkE-A6E/see-officials-provide-an-update-on-gene-hackman-and-wifes-death-investigation

 

[Cherwell]

She may have been concerned about leaving Gene on his own for too long.

 

[NuttMegg]

She may have been concerned about leaving Gene on his own for too long.

Sounds like she was gone just 2 hours. Estimating 10 min to town.

I've been wondering if it's been ruled out that he was lounging in the back seat on the trip.

 

[al66pine]

Dog Food at Vet's Hosp. Not Picked Up. When Ordered?

So another thing to point out i just noticed in the USA today article. They focus on her not picking up the dog medication as being a people knew something was wrong and tried calling with no response.
it shows this photo of 2 Sprout Farmers Market location between the vet who had the medications and the house
I assume she went to the one closer to the house (they should know that) and didn't go the the one on the way to the hospital. Its not exactly clear when the hospital notified her of the prescriptions but if it was also around or just before the 11th, would be strange to skip the vet pickup with her other activities unless she wasn't feeling great. maybe it was too late in the day too, but just trying to think of ways she might have missed picking up those meds which i assume would be a priority

View attachment 569498

@priyaya Yes, seems strange IF she by-passed vet hosp that day, IF she had already ordered.

Not clear to me WHEN order was placed w vet.

Or HOW. Phone call, email, text? Was her email SYNC'ed on cell & PC/tablet/whatever?
Sheriff said LE had not yet accessed data from Ms A's cell. St. police working on it.
Presumably a vet ofc employee would know or remember or could check to tell LE how or when.

IF order was placed AFTER Feb. 11, seems could narrow the window for her DoD.
imo

ETA: Is it also unexpected that when she picked up Zinna after surgery, on Feb 9, that she did
not get dog food that day?
Maybe vet had run out of that dog food or maybe Ms A was distracted, or did not realize they were low on dog food at home.
imo

_________________________________
Sources.
Sheriff, from Transcript:
"We know from our investigation that on February 9th, 2025, she picked up Zinna from Gruda Veterinary Hospital.
" Numerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11th. There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after February 11th, 2025. Cell phone information, the cell phone information and the cell phone data is pending.
We're working with state police to get the information from those phones but our investigation shows that the all the last known communication and activity from Ms. Arakawa was on February 11th."

https://turboscribe.ai/transcript/share/4980981187887858464/36FWZhd5l3_dwbhcUFWaBXevd-hLrekSeP3lRkE-A6E/see-officials-provide-an-update-on-gene-hackman-and-wifes-death-investigation

From USAtoday
"Most notable was what she didn’t do. She failed to swing by Gruda Veterinary Hospital in southwest Santa Fe to pick up the prescription dog food and medication she had ordered for one of her three dogs....
"Arakawa had been taking her dogs to that vet for years and never once missed a food or meds pickup. The following week, sometime after Feb. 17, Gruda’s staff tried calling Arakawa on her cell phone to remind her the food was ready. No one picked up."
"“She was devoted to those dogs,” Robert Gruda, the hospital’s owner, told USA TODAY in an interview. “She was consistent, predictable. We knew something was wrong when she didn’t pick up the food on time.”
"Unbeknownst to Gruda and his staff, Arakawa, 65, was already dead, splayed on a bathroom floor...

 

[NuttMegg]

I think of Betsy as a hero, like many who have made a loving commitment and stuck with it, thru thick & thin as it were She spent more tnan half her life with him, and he spend 1/3+++ of his life with her.

As I said earlier, should we all have a sliver of luck to experience such mutual respect, lack of public drama, loving their pups who would never betray them.

 

[ClearAhead]

So another thing to point out i just noticed in the USA today article. They focus on her not picking up the dog medication as being a people knew something was wrong and tried calling with no response.
it shows this photo of 2 Sprout Farmers Market location between the vet who had the medications and the house
I assume she went to the one closer to the house (they should know that) and didn't go the the one on the way to the hospital. Its not exactly clear when the hospital notified her of the prescriptions but if it was also around or just before the 11th, would be strange to skip the vet pickup with her other activities unless she wasn't feeling great. maybe it was too late in the day too, but just trying to think of ways she might have missed picking up those meds which i assume would be a priority

View attachment 569498

If I’m remembering correctly Betsy did stop to pick up dog food from somewhere on the 11th.

However I’d question why she’d have to go back to the vets two days after she picked up the dog to get medications? Why weren’t adequate and appropriate medications prescribed at the time she took the dog home, that makes no sense to me. Unless Zinna’s condition had worsened in the last 2 days.

 

[ClearAhead]

It's really hard to protect a dog from licking their leg, tearing at bandages by using a crate. You'd be surprised at the gyrations possible within a crate. Much more successful to use a cone. Again, from experience.

Cones have become the standard whenever a dog or cat’s stitches are healing. I don’t think crating a dog solves the risk of ripping out their stitches and we don’t know why the dog was crated. Crates can serve a dogs desire to have a den.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

A minor point -- Gruda, the Vet, is THE vet in Santa Fe. We couldn't get in when we moved here. Not taking new patients. Known to be the best. When you show the location on the map, it doesn't look that far from the Hackman's but it's on the opposite end of town, and down a long unpleasant, even dangerous, very busy street called Cerrillos Rd. When I'm healthy, I don't like driving down Cerrillos. So the day Betsy drove in for errands, if she didn't go pick up the dog medicine, it may be because she felt so bad she couldn't face that drive. I can fully understand. She drove down the mountain, straight to the Sprouts, CVS, and dogfood place on her side of town at at DeVargas Mall where her shop was, a familiar, nearby place, and then home. Makes total sense. May indicate how poorly she felt to not go to the vet's. (DeVargas Mall is very small and not like you think of a mall. An older place.)

 

[nhmemorymaker]

As for the wealth of money left behind, all I hope is that there is plenty of money put aside for the care of Betsy's mother until the end of her days.

Although it's none of my business, I do wonder where Betsy's money would go if Gene and her mother had gone before her. Charity? Animal welfare? Distant relatives? Gene's kids? Just thinking out loud here, because again, it's none of my business.

but but but.... we are here on WS for a reason. We ALWAYS want to know.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I wish media would have asked what BH was wearing when they found her.

dbm

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

My friend had an interesting idea today about where Betsy may have contacted hantavirus -- we have a big problem in SF with mice getting into our cars. My husband checks our car engine regularly and cleans out the nests. It would be possible to have mice in your car, and if you weren't driving a lot, I wonder if the virus could build up in the car or pass through the heating vents? -- I still think the stored crate in an outbuilding makes a lot of sense, but I do wish LE would investigate more to try and determine the source of the virus.

 

[Cherwell]

If I’m remembering correctly Betsy did stop to pick up dog food from somewhere on the 11th.

However I’d question why she’d have to go back to the vets two days after she picked up the dog to get medications? Why weren’t adequate and appropriate medications prescribed at the time she took the dog home, that makes no sense to me. Unless Zinna’s condition had worsened in the last 2 days.

It was possibly not ready then, but something that the vet had to order in. It's not clear when they were expecting her to pick it up. Maybe it still wasn't in stock on the 11th.

 

[NuttMegg]

Cones have become the standard whenever a dog or cat’s stitches are healing. I don’t think crating a dog solves the risk of ripping out their stitches and we don’t know why the dog was crated. Crates can serve a dogs desire to have a den.

My dog ripped out stitches as soon as she was put in a crate while the vet was waiting for me to pick her up, less than 20 minutes. Groggy into the cage to wrecking the stitched leg incision.

Imo depending on where the incision is, crating could very well protect a dog from wrecking a non- leg wound.

So that's my opinion, no crating for a dog with leg wound.

 

[Warwick7]

"The staff instructed her to confine Zinna to a crate, to keep her from running around and undoing the effects of the surgery, Gruda said."

Gene Hackman cause of death released

New Mexico investigators are releasing the cause of death for legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa.

www.usatoday.com

 

[priyaya]

My friend had an interesting idea today about where Betsy may have contacted hantavirus -- we have a big problem in SF with mice getting into our cars. My husband checks our car engine regularly and cleans out the nests. It would be possible to have mice in your car, and if you weren't driving a lot, I wonder if the virus could build up in the car or pass through the heating vents? -- I still think the stored crate in an outbuilding makes a lot of sense, but I do wish LE would investigate more to try and determine the source of the virus.

Its nightmares here in NYC too. If you leave a car in one place more than a few days, hell even a few hours, you will get rats (large nasty ones) in the wires. I've had to replace all wiring twice now.

The same thought came to my mind in so far as maybe they had gotten in Genes truck which had been sitting around i assume in the garage. But really just looking at the detached structures, they were pretty far from the main house, so Im almost certain she got it from whatever in there