Newly released body camera footage reveals one of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s dogs staying close to her body as police surveyed their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home, where the couple was found dead in late February.
The video, released by investigators and published by TMZ on Tuesday, shows an officer briefing his colleague as they enter the residence.
“He’s guarding her,” the officer says, referring to one of the Hackmans’ three dogs, seen sitting near Arakawa’s body.
The officer notes the dog “seems pretty friendly,” but informs his colleague that their team also found another deceased canine inside a crate deeper in the house.
Authorities noted they could hear a third dog barking in the distance, but it did not appear in the footage.
According to a sheriff’s incident report obtained by NBC News, authorities later found the animal running loose on the couple’s 12-acre property.
A New Mexico Department of Agriculture report, detailed by the New York Post last month, revealed that the deceased dog, named Zinnia, was found in a “mummified” state when authorities initially canvassed the home on Feb. 26, nearly two weeks after Arakawa is believed to have died.
Authorities suspect Hackman, who was 95 and living with advanced Alzheimer’s, was alone with his wife’s body until he died several days later.
Tuesday’s release also included a document showing Arakawa had researched COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms online before her death, which was later determined to be from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-borne disease.
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An environmental assessment of the Hackman property, also included in the records, showed health officials found rodent nests and feces in several outlying buildings but not in the main residence.
Hackman and Arakawa were recently laid to rest in a private memorial service for their family, according to People magazine.
