Gene Hackman 911 call in full as distressed caretaker makes plea to police
A 911 call was made after the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were discovered at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the audio has now been released.
The chilling audio from a 911 call has been released, detailing the harrowing moment Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead at their Santa Fe mansion.
The beloved actor, who passed away aged 95, alongside his 63-year-old wife, were discovered by a caretaker, who peered through a window to find a motionless woman on the floor and quickly alerted the authorities.
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In the intense recording, the emergency operator is heard asking "Santa Fe 911. What is the emergency?" to which the caretaker replied: "Hello, my name is [redacted], I'm the caretaker for Santa Fe Summit up here about [unintelligible]. I think we just found two or one deceased person inside the house."
When asked for the address, the caretaker responded, "There's no address, I'm going to wait for you at the gate. I'm going to wait for you, please send somebody real quick."
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The emergency dispatcher probed further, inquiring, "Is the person a male or a female?" with the worried caller urging: "A female and a male probably, I don't know. I don't know, sir, just send somebody up here real quick."
As the 911 operator continued, asking "Okay, are they awake?," the caretaker said, "I have no idea."
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Further questions about whether the individuals were breathing were met with "I have no idea, I'm not inside the house. It's closed, it's locked. I can't go in, but I see them laying... she's laying down on the floor from the window."
Deputies from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office attended the residence following the discovery, and a statement later confirmed that Gene Hackman, 95, his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and their dog had all passed away, reports the Mirror.
In an autopsy report, it was revealed that Gene and Betsy were found to be in an advanced state of decomposition when they were discovered, with bloating to Betsy's face and mummification on her hands and feet.
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However, no signs of external trauma were found on either Gene or Betsy during the autopsy, with the cause of death yet to be determined.
Initially, the actor's relatives suspected a gas leak as a potential cause of death, but this theory appears to be unlikely.
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Tests undertaken by the Santa Fe City Fire Department did not indicate the presence of a carbon monoxide leak. The report stated, "He advised the fire department did not locate signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning... as of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence."
Santa Fe Sheriff Aron Mendoza commented: "We're not going to guess this was an accident or natural causes. It wasn't typical."