Actor Gene Hackman and his wife had apparently been dead for some time when they were found Wednesday in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home.

The bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found by a maintenance worker along with a dog.

An affidavit from a police officer, Arakawa’s body was in more advanced state of decomposition than that of her husband,  according to People.

Arakawa “showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit said Hackman showed similar signs of death to his wife.

Mummification takes place after death when living tissue hardens due to a lack of water. Natural mummification takes place in dry, hot environments.

According to NBC, authorities said both had been dead  “quite a while.”

A search warrant said both deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said pills found near Arakawa’s body was “very important evidence at the scene.” He added the police are “looking at that specifically and other medications that were possibly in the residence. That is something of concern.”

“I think I’m pretty confident there is no foul play just based on the lack of evidence of foul play, but we of course are not ruling that out,” he said.

The pills were scattered on a bathroom countertop near Arakawa’s body, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The LA Times report said both bodies appeared to have fallen abruptly and said the bodies of both Hackman and his wife were partially decomposed.

Police said the bodies had no signs of trauma and there did not appear to be evidence of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Hackman’s body was found near the kitchen. Police said they believe that a space heater found on the bathroom floor with Arakawa could have been knocked down when she fell to the floor.

According to Grok this is how long it takes for a body to begin the mummification process

Gene Hackman could potentially have mummified in less than a week pic.twitter.com/MZdT4FKqeF

— JJ von Pepe (@JJvonPepe17) February 27, 2025

Mendoza said it is uncertain when the couple died.

The property’s maintenance workers last spoke to Hackman and Arakawa two weeks ago, but often did not communicate with them while working around the house.

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