Key Detail Emerges About Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa Property After Deaths

It has now been more than six weeks since Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s bodies were discovered at their Santa Fe property—and new details are still emerging to help answer lingering questions about exactly what the timeline of their final days looked like.

One of the most mysterious parts of the couple’s story is exactly how Arakawa contracted hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a serious viral infection that is typically spread by rodents. On Monday, CNN helped make better sense of the diagnosis via reports they obtained from the New Mexico Department of Public Health.

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The report claimed that multiple rodents and rodent nests were found throughout the 12-acre property which, in addition to their home, housed eight outbuildings. An environmental assessment of their property was conducted a week after the couple’s bodies were discovered. According to the report, rodent droppings were found in each of those outbuildings, which included three detached garages.

In each of those three garages, authorities also discovered a live rodent, a dead rodent, and a rodent’s nest.

The reason for the assessment, according to CNN, was to assess the safety of first responders who may have potentially been exposed to hantavirus. New Mexico State Public Health Veterinarian Erin Phipps stated that there were no signs of rodent activity in the couple’s residence.

“The other eight buildings on the property were accessible to rodents, the report stated,” wrote CNN’s Veronica Miracle. “In two vehicles on the property (listed as a working or abandoned vehicle or farm equipment), there were also sightings of rodents, a nest and feces. Investigators also found live traps in the outbuildings.”

The presence of the live traps, according to TMZ, may indicate that a rodent infestation may have been an ongoing problem on the property.