How Gene Hackman’s Dogs Helped First Responders Find His Body — And Why One Was Crated

Authorities received a call on February 26 from two maintenance workers on the property reporting that they had seen a woman lying on the ground inside the house through a window.

As detailed by TMZ, paramedics responded to the call and entered the home through the unlocked front door, followed by sheriff’s deputies. Hackman’s wife Arakawa, 65, was found quickly, lying on the floor of the bathroom near the front door.

Police told the press that it took them a bit of time to find the 95-year-old actor’s body. As it turns out, the couple’s dogs, Bear and Nikita, had a lot to do with that.

In fact, after 30 minutes of searching the couple’s sprawling four-bedroom Santa Fe home, two paramedics and three firefighters had been unable to find evidence of anyone else in the home, per a new timeline presented by USA Today.

As they searched, the couple’s dogs kept trying to get their attention, with Santa Fe Fire Department Chief Brian Moya telling the outlet one of the dogs kept running up to them, barking, and then running off in the same direction. At first, they thought the dog wanted to play, per the outlet, but then realized what was really happening.

“They realized [the dog’ was trying to say, ‘Hey, come over here! Come over here!'” Moya added.

According to Moya, the dog led them to a mudroom off the kitchen on the far end of the home and then sat next to the body of Hackman, who was lying on the floor with a pair of sunglasses and a cane nearby. A backdoor had also been propped open, allowing the dogs to come in and out.

Officials later determined that the Oscar-winning actor had likely lived alone in the home for approximately a week after his wife’s death, though it is unclear if he was aware of her passing, or aware of their third dog, locked inside a crate in a closet.

Hackman was living with advanced Alzheimer’s disease at the time of his death, with the medical examiner listing his cause of death as cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s a contributing factor.

As for Arakawa, she was determined to have died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare and extremely dangerous disease picked up from rat droppings or urine and quickly fatal in anywhere from 33% to 50% of cases — often within a day.

An investigation into the data from Hackman’s pacemaker allowed authorities to pinpoint his likely death as February 18. It is believed that his wife died on February 11, the last day she was seen alive.

She was spotted inside a CVS Pharmacy on surveillance footage that day, wearing a face mask and likely feeling the effects of the hantavirus, authorities believe, which presents a severe flu-like symptoms and can be difficult to properly diagnose.

Arakawa subsequently used a remote to open the garage at the gated community where she and Hackman lived at around 5:15 p.m., the last digital footprint she would leave before her body’s discovery on February 26.

Arakaway had exchanged some emails that morning with her massage therapist and visited a grocery store while out, but there was one stop she missed. She was scheduled to pick up medicine and specialized dog food for Zinna, the dog first responders found deceased inside a kennel.

Zinna had recently had “major surgery” in January which is why she had been crated; to prevent her injuring herself or “undoing the effects of the surgery,” according to Gruda Veterinary Hospital.

Staff at the hospital attempted to call Arakawa on February 17, as they said she never missed pickups like this. “She was devoted to those dogs,” owner Robert Gruda told USA Today. “She was consistent, predictable. We knew something was wrong when she didn’t pick up the food on time.”

“She was an excellent dog owner, excellent caretaker to those dogs,” Gruda added. “She really doted on them.”

Animal Rescue, Inc., a local shelter where Hackman got at least one of their dogs, per People, paid tribute after his passing on Facebook after his passing: “We are mourning the passing of our most famous adopter Gene Hackman. He was an amazing actor and dog lover.”