Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's Death Investigation: Pills Found Near Her Are 'Very Important Evidence,' Says Sheriff

Pills were found near Gene Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa’s deceased body, and they’re now being deemed as “very important evidence” amid the investigation of their deaths.

During the February 28 episode of the Today show, Savannah Guthrie asked Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza if the medication found was “in any way related to the deaths" of Hackman and his wife.

“That’s obviously very important evidence at the scene," Mendoza replied. "That information was collected, that information was passed to the office of the medical investigator to help them make a determination. So we’re looking at that specifically and other medications that were possibly in the residence. So that is something of concern."

It will likely be some time before there are concrete answers regarding their cause of death, as Mendoza confirmed a toxicology report may take “three months” or longer.

“It just depends how busy the laboratory is,” he continued. “But we’re hoping it comes sooner than later so we can answer some of these questions and hopefully it’ll help us in our investigation to help determine the matter and cause of death.”

As OK! revealed, the couple was reported as deceased in the early hours of February 27. Arakawa was found lying on her right side in her bathroom on the ground, with a space heater near her head and scattered pills on a counter above her. For his part, Hackman was found in a room off of the kitchen, while their dog — who also was found dead — was located near the bathroom.

Although Hackman’s daughter suggested carbon monoxide may have played a part in the deaths, the fire department came to the scene and concluded there were “no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence.”

“The death of the two deceased individuals to be 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, deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak," an affidavit to obtain a search warrant reads.