Gene Hackman’s doctor claims Betsy Arakawa’s estimated date of death is incorrect — because she allegedly called his office one day later.
“Mrs. Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12,” Dr. Josiah Child told the Daily Mail in an interview published Sunday, March 16.
Hackman and Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on February 26. After an investigation, authorities announced on March 7 that Arakawa died at age 64 due to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Meanwhile, Hackman, who was 95, is believed to have died about a week later due to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor.
Arakawa was planning a heart scan for her husband prior to their deaths. “She’d called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram for her husband,” Dr. Child claimed. “She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her. She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory.”
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Dr. Child, who runs Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, said she canceled her appointment on February 10. She explained that Hackman was sick. “She called back on the morning of February 12 and spoke to one of our doctors who told her to come in that afternoon,” he explained.
However, Arakawa never arrived, and the team never heard from her again. “We made her an appointment but she never showed up,” Dr. Child alleged. “She did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress. The appointment wasn’t for anything related to hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply.”
Officials stated that they were estimating Arakawa’s time of death based on the information they had. Security footage showed her running errands on February 11 and returning home.
Dr. Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, explained at a March 7 press conference: “Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Mrs. Hackman died first, likely around February 11.”
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The medical examiner said it was difficult to say whether a heart attack caused Hackman’s death but noted he’d had many heart attacks and heart procedures over the years. Dr. Jarrell added that Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease was severe: “I can tell you that he was in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s and it’s quite possible that he was not aware she was deceased.”
Hackman, who is survived by three adult children, left his $80 million estate to Arakawa in his will. It is unclear what will happen to the estate.
