New cell phone data has called into question when exactly Gene Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa died.  

The Santa Fe medical examiner claimed a post-mortem examination showed Arakawa died of hantavirus, a rare rat-borne respiratory disease, on February 11 – a full week before her Oscar-winning husband died of heart failure combined with Alzheimer’s disease. 

But now police have confirmed Arakawa, 65, made multiple phone calls to a health clinic on February 12 – a day after she was initially believed to have died, according to BBC.

The calls came to light after Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office’s obtained Arakawa’s cell phone data.

Arakawa called Cloudberry Health, a local personalized concierge medical practice, seeking medical treatment three times on February 12. A fourth call was also made to Arakawa from the clinic, according to BBC.

The clinic told BBC she never received the medical care.

New cell phone data from Gene Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa has shed more light on their mysterious deaths and shifted the timeline in their pᴀssing; pictured 1991

Authorities added they had not reported an official date of death for Arakawa but had merely noted her last known activity took place on February 11.

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Officials added that Arakawa communicated with a mᴀssage therapist via email, went to the grocery store, a pharmacy, and pet store. She made it back home at approximately 5:15PM that day, according to garage clicker data.

Dr Josiah Child, a former emergency care specialist who now runs Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico, told the BBC that Arakawa had contacted them for medical advice but neither she or her husband had been treated at the clinic. 

‘She called and described some congestion but didn’t mention any respiratory distress, shortness of breath, or chest pain,’ he said.

Dr. Child also told The Mail on Sunday that Arakawa had called his private clinic 24 hours after police claim she died. 

‘Mrs Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12,’ he said. 

‘She’d called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband. She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her. She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory.’

He added that two days before she was due to see him, she cancelled her appointment, saying her husband was not well.

 The calls came to light after Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office’s obtained Arakawa’s cell phone data; pictured 1989

Dr Child said: ‘She called back on the morning of February 12 and spoke to one of our doctors who told her to come in that afternoon.

‘We made her an appointment but she never showed up. She did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress. The appointment wasn’t for anything related to hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply.’

The doctor’s revelation that Mrs Hackman could have been alive for at least a day longer than the coroner has claimed casts further mystery over her death.

The 65-year-old was found on the bathroom floor of the couple’s isolated Santa Fe home surrounded by pills with her husband on the floor of a utility room 20ft away.

The Santa Fe medical examiner claimed a post-mortem examination showed Betsy died of hantavirus, a rare rat-borne respiratory disease, on February 11 – a week before her husband

His pacemaker showed he died on February 18. A post-mortem examination revealed there was no food in his stomach, and investigators believe his Alzheimer’s meant he may not have realised his wife of 34 years had died.

One of their three dogs, which was in a crate recovering from surgery, died of starvation and dehydration.

Mrs Hackman, a pilates-loving ‘fitness fanatic’, was ruled to have died from hantavirus, which is contracted by inhaling rat or mice faeces.

Dr Child added: ‘I am not a hantavirus expert but most patients who have that diagnosis die in hospital. It is surprising that Mrs Hackman spoke to my office on the phone on February 10 and again on February 12 and didn’t appear in respiratory distress.’

An LA-based doctor told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Medical professionals are all scratching their heads over hantavirus as the cause of death.

The Oscar-winning actor died of heart failure combined with Alzheimer’s disease last month (Pictured: Hackman and Arakawa in New Mexico in March 2024)

‘Respiratory failure is not sudden – it is something that worsens over several days.

‘Most people get admitted to the ER [emergency room] because they are having trouble breathing. It’s exceedingly rare for a seemingly healthy 65-year-old to drop ᴅᴇᴀᴅ of it. In fact, no one’s heard of such a thing.’

Mrs Hackman was last seen ‘running around’ Santa Fe on February 11, visiting a chemist, pet food store and supermarket.

Mystery also surrounds who will inherit the $80 million Hackman fortune. The actor had three children but his estate was tied up in a private trust.