• Gene Hackman was found dead alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, this week.
• The authorities have said their deaths are "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation."
• Hackman's pacemaker was last active on February 17, nine days before his body was discovered, they said.

More details are emerging about the death of Gene Hackman.

The Oscar-winning actor was found dead on February 26 at his New Mexico home alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa. Hackman was 95, and Arakawa was 65.

The Santa Fe Sheriff, Adan Mendoza, confirmed the news to the Santa Fe New Mexican on Wednesday evening but did not disclose a cause of death.

"All I can say is that we're in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant. I want to assure the community and neighborhood that there's no immediate danger to anyone," Mendoza said.

The New Mexico authorities later released an affidavit, also published by the Santa Fe New Mexican, that said the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation because the reporting party found the front door of the residence unsecured and opened."

The affidavit also said Arakawa's body "showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet."

One of the deputies cited in the report said two maintenance workers called the authorities, and they told the deputy they hadn't heard from Hackman and Arakawa for two weeks.

The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

At a news conference held on February 28, Mendoza said that an initial examination found that Hackman's pacemaker was last active on February 17, nine days before he and his wife's bodies were discovered.

The sheriff said it was "a very good assumption" Hackman died on that day, based on information from a pathologist.

According to the earlier affidavit, Hackman was found in a mudroom at the Santa Fe residence, while Arakawa was found in a bathroom near an open bottle of prescription medication "with pills scattered on the counter-top."

There were two "healthy" dogs at the property, and a third that was found dead "laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female."

The initial autopsy also found no initial signs of trauma to either body.

Hackman's daughter said her main worry was that her father suffered

Hackman is survived by his three children from his first marriage to Faye Maltese. Leslie Anne Allen, their youngest child, spoke with US Weekly about the deaths.

"I think I'm very anxious to find out what happened, and I just don't know how long they had been deceased," she told the outlet on Thursday, adding that the authorities "don't know yet either."

Allen said: "I much would have rather my dad pass peacefully, but hopefully if it was carbon monoxide poisoning [there was] no suffering with that. That's my main concern."

Per the affidavit, the fire department did not detect a carbon monoxide leak in the property.

At the news conference, the sheriff confirmed the initial examination by the medical examiner showed the couple's bodies had tested negative for carbon monoxide exposure.

"The police won't let us go in when they are still investigating," Allen said, adding that she and her siblings would "wait to find out what actually happened" before they traveled to New Mexico.

Hackman had his big break in 'Bonnie and Clyde'

Hackman played a wide range of roles over his four-decade career, making him beloved by audiences and peers alike.

His breakout part was in 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde" when he played the older brother of the gangster Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty), for which he received an Oscar nomination. He became a leading man as the hard-nosed detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in 1971's "The French Connection," which earned him an Oscar.

He spent the 1970s working on movies that would become classics, such as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Conversation."

On Thursday, Francis Ford Coppola, who directed "The Conversation," posted a tribute to Hackman on Threads: "The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution."

At the end of the '70s, he played Lex Luthor in "Superman" (a role he reprised in "Superman II" and "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace).

The 1980s saw Hackman's star soar with movies such as "Hoosiers" and "Mississippi Burning" (earning him another Oscar nomination). He started the 1990s with another Oscar win, this time for 1992's Clint Eastwood-directed Western "Unforgiven." As the decade went on, he did some of his best work with "The Firm," "The Quick and the Dead," "Crimson Tide," "Get Story," and "The Birdcage."

As the 2000s came around, it seemed Hackman wasn't going to slow down in his 70s. He starred in wide-ranging projects: playing a football head coach in "The Replacements," being part of an ensemble cast in Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums," and outwitting everyone in the clever "Heist."

But Hackman had other ideas.

After starring in 2004's "Welcome to Mooseport" he abruptly retired from acting.

Hackman, who wrote the 1999 novel "Wake of the Perdido Star," focused more on his writing during this period. He wrote four more books, the last of which was the police thriller "Pursuit" in 2013.

Hackman was a Marine before he started acting

Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California. He moved frequently as a kid and by the time he started high school his family had set roots in Iowa. At 16, he enlisted in the Marines and served 4 ½ years as a field radio operator in the late 1940s. He was discharged in 1951 and, after toying with a career in media by studying journalism and television production at the University of Illinois with the help of the GI Bill, Hackman moved back to California.

Hackman's acting career began in the 1960s at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. There, he befriended a fellow aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman, and the two hit it off as they tried to navigate their careers.

The pair moved to New York City to try to make it big and soon befriended another California actor with the same goal: Robert Duvall.

Alongside off-Broadway plays, Hackman found work with small TV parts. In 1964, he got a part in the movie "Lilith," starring Warren Beatty, leading to his big break with "Bonnie and Clyde."

From then, Hackman would become an all-time great thanks to his passionate performances and ability to play gruff everyman characters, but with a charming quality whenever he flashed a smile or gave a crackling laugh.

Hackman has three children from his first marriage

In 1956, the actor married Faye Maltese, a bank clerk from New York. The couple had three children, Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne Hackman. They divorced in 1986 after 30 years of marriage.

In 2000, the actor told the Irish Independent that he wasn't always present as a father. "I couldn't always be home with them when they were growing up and then, living in California, they've had my success always hanging over their heads,' Hackman said.

Sometime after Hackman and Maltese split, he started dating Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist who was 30 years his junior. They got married in 1991.

Hackman never returned to acting

Hackman's status as a legend only grew after his retirement, as one of few icons able to walk away and stay away from the business.

In one of his final interviews, in 2011, GQ asked him whether he'd ever do another movie:

"I don't know," he said. "If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people."

Correction: February 27, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated the circumstances of Gene Hackman's death. The Santa Fe New Mexican cited Sheriff Adan Mendoza as saying Hackman, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog were found dead Wednesday afternoon, not that they died Thursday. Mendoza was said to have confirmed their deaths Thursday.