Grim Details Released In Emotional 911 Call For The Gene Hackman Case

The exact cause of the deaths of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, still isn't known, but as more information comes out since their bodies were found on February 25, 2025, an increasingly darker picture is emerging.

The newest piece of the puzzle to emerge is audio of a 911 call from the caretaker for the subdivision where they lived (via TMZ). He looked in the window of the couple's Santa Fe, New Mexico, home and saw the bodies of the 95-year-old actor and his 63-year-old wife inside. When the operator asked if the caller could tell if the people inside were breathing, the caller frantically answered, "I have no idea. I'm not inside the house. It's closed. It's locked. I can't go in."

The call is just the latest detail from the case that raises questions about what really happened. Here's everything we know about the circumstances so far.

The 911 caller didn't know who Hackman and Arakawa were, only identifying them as a man and a woman. It's clear from his voice, though, that the sight of their bodies was highly disturbing. The two-minute call is quite chaotic; the caller repeatedly noted that the house didn't have its own address and dogs can be heard barking throughout. 

He can also be heard pleading with the operator to send help as fast as possible, saying when asked about the couple's genders, "I don't know. I don't know, sir. Just send somebody up here real quick."

The caller can also be heard repeatedly saying "damn" throughout the call while crying. The maintenance worker's name has been redacted from the public release of the call.

Sheriff's deputies located Hackman and Arakawa's bodies during a wellness check the afternoon of February 26. They didn't reveal a cause of death at the time, but initially said no foul play was suspected. A detective's filing of a court affidavit seeking a search warrant has raised some serious questions about what happened, though.

The detective's affidavit states that the couple's deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation." Among the details that raised questions were that Hackman and Arakawa's bodies were found in different rooms; the front door was unlocked and open; and a heater had been moved near to where Arakawa's body was located, in the bathroom. An open pill bottle was also found near Arakawa's body, with prescription pills scattered around her. The pills have yet to be identified as of this writing.

Police said there were no signs of gunshots or other external wounds. One of the couple's dogs was also found dead in a closet about 15 feet away from Arakawa's body. Two other dogs were still alive, though, one in the house and one outside.

Another detail reported by The Daily Mail is that Hackman and Arakawa are thought to have been dead for as long as two weeks before they were found. Parts of their bodies were found in what was described as a "mummified" state. Their last confirmed contact was with a maintenance worker around two weeks earlier.

The affidavit also states that there were no signs of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning, an early prevailing theory for the cause. Even Hackman's own daughter, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, told TMZ that their first suspicions were that toxic fumes had led to a tragic accident.

At the time of his death, Gene Hackman had been retired from acting for almost 21 years. His last film was the 2004 comedy "Welcome to Mooseport." He told Larry King that year, "I don't have a lot of fears. I have the normal fear of passing away, you know? I guess we all think about that, especially getting to be a certain age."

He had married Arakawa, his second wife, in 1991. They lived in New Mexico for quite some time and Hackman was deeply involved in the local community. According to KOAT, Hackman was on the Board of Trustees for the museum of artist Georgia O'Keeffe's work in Santa Fe from 1997 to 2004.

After his retirement, Hackman largely stayed out of the public eye, focusing on writing novels and painting in his later years. He co-authored three books about the military, and then went on to write several Westerns.