Autopsy confirms that Jean Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, has died of the hantavirus

Betsy Arakawa, the wife of concert pianist and late actor Jean Hackman, died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, according to the final autopsy report released Tuesday.

The report was published two days after Hackman’s autopsy findings, detailing Arakawa’s lungs being “heavy and crowded,” and accumulation of fluid in the chest and mild stiffening of blood vessels supplied the heart and body, confirming Hantavilas’ previous positive test results.

Hantavirus is a rare, but potentially fatal disease that is transmitted through the feces, saliva or urine of infected rodents. It does not spread among humans. The New Mexico Department of Health has discovered rodent feces in the couple’s property building, but no evidence of rodents was found inside the home.

Arakawa, 65, tested negative for Covid-19 and the flu, and her autopsy found no signs of trauma. Her carbon monoxide levels were within the normal range, and toxicological reports showed the presence of caffeine, but no alcohol or intoxicating medication.

The autopsy of Gene Hackman, released Sunday, determined that the 95-year-old Oscar-winning actor had died of heart disease and was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Hackman tested negative for the hantavirus because he had not eaten for a long time before his death.

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On the morning of February 12th, Arakawa asked for concierge medical services in Santa Fe and contacted the service, but missed the call on the way home. In an email to her massage therapist, she wrote that Hackman woke up with “cold and flu symptoms” but tested negative for Covid-19 and would reschedule her appointment “from abundant attention.”

The release of the autopsy and investigation records followed a court order after Hackman’s estate and family tried to keep the documents private. The media organization has agreed not to publish images of the couple’s bodies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.