Police reveal Gene Hackman’s wife made phone call 24 hours ‘after she died’

The timeline of events has changed

The couple were found dead in their New Mexico home last month with officials saying the pair had been dead for some time before being discovered by neighbourhood security.

Initially, officials believed Arakawa died on 11 February and Hackman died a week later, possibly unaware his wife was deceased due to his advanced Alzheimer's.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office now says they have confirmed that Arakawa made multiple calls to a health clinic on 12 February for medical treatment, which the clinic told BBC she never was able to receive.

The sheriff's office said they learned of the calls when they received cell phone data from her phone.

According to investigators, three calls were made that morning to Cloudberry Health, a personalized concierge medical practice in the area. She received a fourth call, also from the clinic.

The sheriff's office noted it never reported an official date of death for her and said that initially they'd stated that Arakawa's last known activity was on 11 February.

Authorities say she'd exchanged emails with a massage therapist and visited a grocery store, pharmacy and a pet store. Garage clicker data showed she returned home around 5:15 p.m. that day.

Dr Josiah Child who leads the medical centre told the BBC that while the clinic had never treated Hackman or Arakawa, she had reached out for medical advice.

He said: "She called and described some congestion but didn't mention any respiratory distress, shortness of breath, or chest pain."

She arranged an appointment for February 12 but cancelled two days before, explaining that she needed to care for her husband.

On the morning of the 12, she called the clinic again seeking treatment but because no doctor-patient relationship had been established, the clinic told her she needed to be seen in person.

Dr Child said: "There were a couple calls back and forth to just schedule that appointment for the afternoon, but she never showed up.

"Our office called back several times and never got an answer."

The pair were found dead on February 26.

Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell stated that "based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that [Betsy] passed away first."

The Santa Fe medical examiner determined she died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-borne respiratory disease.

Authorities believe Hackman died on 18 February - the date of his last recorded pacemaker activity, which showed an abnormal rhythm of atrial fibrillation.

His cause of death was severe heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease listed as a contributing factor.