Loyal ‘till the very end.
In newly released police bodycam footage captured the day Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were discovered dead in their home, their dog was seen guarding Arakawa’s body.
The footage shows Santa Fe, New Mexico, police entering the couple’s incredibly disheveled Santa Fe Summit home before ultimately finding the bodies of Hackman and his wife. One of the couple’s dogs was lying next to Arakawa.
The bodies of the actor, who was 95, his classical pianist wife, 65, and Zinnia, one of their three German Shepherds, were found on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The captured bodycam footage was published by TMZ on April 15.
As for the two other dogs, Nikita and Bear, they were alive and roaming around the property.
Authorities were seen searching the home for the couple and came across Arakawa’s body first. The blurred bodycam footage showed her on the floor near a locked exterior door with the surviving dogs by her side.
One of the officers can be heard saying the dog was “guarding her” and “seems pretty friendly.”
While Zinnia was found dead in a crate near the bathroom, authorities heard another dog “running around” and barking in the distance.
Hackman’s body was later found near the kitchen.
A recent environmental assessment by the New Mexico Department of Public Health found that the couple’s home was infested by rodents, and included dead pests and nests littered throughout the 8 detached outbuildings.
On March 7, it was confirmed that Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, brought on by hantavirus, while Hackman — who was likely in the home with his wife’s dead body for many days — died from a combination of severe heart disease, high blood pressure and advanced Alzheimer’s disease, per People.
Arakawa died on on Feb. 12 while Hackman died around Feb. 17 or 18.
The Santa Fe County animal control previously stated that Zinnia most likely died from dehydration and starvation.
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