Rats, illness linked to Gene Hackman and wife's sad deaths

Photo : Instagram

Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their home in Santa Fe. Their bodies were partly mummified and found in different rooms of the house. One of their dogs was also found dead in a cage, and it is believed the dog died because it didn’t have any food.

When officials checked the property, they found dead rats, rat nests, and rat traps in several places, including in buildings outside the house and in three garages. The health department did a report and confirmed that there were rats on the property.

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Before she died, Betsy Arakawa had been searching for information about flu-like symptoms on the internet and in emails. She got sick with a rare disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which comes from being near rodents. This disease can spread through the air, especially when people clean places where rats have been living.

Gene Hackman, who had Alzheimer's disease, died from heart disease just a few days after his wife. He was found in another room of the house.

The details of the case were kept secret at first, but they were made public after a court decision. The discovery of rats and the illness explain what happened inside the house.