Barking, Weeping and Crying: The Nightmarish 'Death Rattle' Sounds Heard by Gene Hackman's Caretaker AFTER Actor and His Wife Were Found Dead at Secretive $4Million Compound
A caretaker came upon the private couple's dead bodies.
Feb. 28 2025, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
A caretaker at Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's Santa Fe home was left sobbing and in shock after finding the couple's dead bodies.
The man cried while on a 911 call, just moments following the discovery of Hackman and Arakawa's "mummified" remains two weeks after they were last seen, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Hackman and Arakawa's lifeless bodies were found inside of their Santa Fe home.
The man, on the phone with a dispatcher, said, "Damn!" and explained, "I think we just found a deceased person inside the house. One of Hackman and Arakawa's three dogs, a German Shepherd, was also found dead in a closet, however, the other two can be heard barking in the background of the call.
"... A female and a male, probably," the caretaker responded after being asked the ages of the people in the home.
He begged: "I don't know, sir, just send somebody up here quick. The house is closed, it's locked... I can't go in but I see she's laying on the floor."
The caretaker also confirmed Hackman and Arakawa appeared lifeless: "They're not moving. Just send somebody up here."
The 911 call appears to contradict the search warrant, which noted a maintenance worker reported the mansion's front door was open when he arrived to do routine work. An explanation for this has yet to be given by any of the investigators.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, were discovered dead in separate rooms on Wednesday, February 26, inside of their $4million home.
According to the search warrant, Arakawa was found decomposed with bloating on her face and mummification in her hands and feet, while the iconic actor was also found with the same signs of decomposition as his wife.
It took investigators 12 hours to identify Hackman and Arakawa due to their shocking condition.
Arakawa's body, found in a bedroom, also had scattered pills near her. The movie star was found in the mudroom, the warrant read. No suicide note was discovered on the scene.
A cause of death has yet to be determined – and may take weeks – but while there was no "obvious signs of a gas leak," the Unforgiven actor's eldest daughter Elizabeth speculated her father and stepmother may have died due to a carbon monoxide leak.
The deaths are now being looked at as "suspicious."
The iconic actor and his wife's bodies were said to be 'mummified.'
As fans await for an explanation behind the deaths, some have thrown all they can on the wall to see what sticks.
Some conspiracy theories have included everything from a murder-suicide to baffling claims of Witchcraft, and even a connection to Jeffrey Epstein – especially with "Phase 1" of the late pedophile's secret files released on Thursday.
Just one day after Hackman and Arakawa's bodies were found, his daughter Leslie was spotted with her sister Elizabeth having breakfast together in a Burbank, California, branch of Denny.
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A cause of death may take weeks.
Leslie revealed she had not spoken to her famous father or stepmother in some time.
"We were close. I hadn't talked to them for a couple months, but everything was normal and everything was good," she said.
Hackman shared Elizabeth, Leslie, and son Christopher with his first wife, Faye Maltese.
