While authorities continue to investigate the mysterious death of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, a misstep was found in the case.
The dog that was found dead near Arakawa’s body was misidentified by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, Fox News Digital can confirm.
The owner of the Santa Fe Tails, the pet care facility that took in Hackman’s two other surviving dogs, explained that the dead dog was a different breed than what is listed in the search warrant affidavit, obtained by Fox News Digital.
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Portrait of actor Gene Hackman at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago on May 10, 1985. (Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
Hackman and his wife’s three dogs were named Zinna, Bear and Nikita.
“Zinna was a mutt … a mixed breed,” Joey Padilla, owner of the Santa Fe Tails, shared with Fox News Digital. “Bear is the purebred German shepherd and Nikita’s the shepherd mix.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila acknowledged that deputies initially misidentified the breed of the deceased dog.
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Law enforcement officials talk outside the home of actor Gene Hackman on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in the home a day earlier. (AP Photo/Roberto Rosales)
“Our deputies, they don’t work with canines on a daily basis,” she said, according to The Associated Press.
Padilla told Fox News Digital that the shepherd mix appeared frightened by the mysterious events that unfolded surrounding their now-deceased owners.
“Nikita’s the shepherd mix, and she was the one that was really terrified of what was going on when all of this was happening. She was really difficult,” Padilla added.
Gene Hackman in the 1988 film “Mississippi Burning.” (David Appleby/Orion/Everett Collection)
While it is unclear how long the surviving dogs were left unattended, the pet care facility owner said the shepherd mix “was hungry,” and their team attempted to give her treats. However, the dog did not immediately take the treats since there were “too many people” around.
He continued to explain that the animal services “utilized a trap” for the shepherd mix and then the pet care facility picked up the dog.
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Authorities have been searching for answers after the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa, whose partially mummified bodies were discovered on Feb. 26 at their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home.
Authorities did not perform a necropsy on Zinna, who was found in a kennel in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, the search warrant stated. Investigators initially noted the discovery of a “deceased brown in color German-Shepard canine.”
The Oscar-winning actor and his wife, a classical pianist, tested negative for carbon monoxide, according to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. (Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)
Hackman and Arakawa may have died up to two weeks earlier, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said.
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The Oscar-winning actor and his wife, a classical pianist, tested negative for carbon monoxide, according to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. Hackman likely died about nine days before his body was discovered by authorities.
According to a press release obtained by Fox News Digital Tuesday, the New Mexico Gas Company “confirmed it conducted an extensive investigation for gas leaks and carbon monoxide” Feb. 26 and made “no significant findings” at the couple’s secluded home.
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Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa married in 1991. (Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Detectives recovered two cellphones, two different prescriptions and a 2025 planner while inspecting the residence, according to the search warrant inventory list obtained by Fox News Digital.
While Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were found under what detectives are calling “suspicious” circumstances, officials confirmed no external trauma was seen on either Hackman or Arakawa and the case remains open pending autopsy and toxicology results.
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Fox News Digital’s Larry Fink, Tracy Wright and Christina Dugan Ramirez, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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