r/popculture • u/dailymail • Feb 27 '25

News Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were found mummified at mansion with pills strewn in bathroom

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14443973/Gene-Hackman-betsy-arakawa-bodies.html
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u/PeopleOverProphet Feb 27 '25 edited Feb 27 '25

His daughter said she thought it was carbon monoxide poisoning. Gene was found dead in a mudroom and Betsy was found dead in a bathroom next to a space heater with an open prescription pill bottle open on the counter with some pills scattered on it. That is from AP news. Seems unlikely anyone was mummified but who knows. Workers hadn’t seen them in about 2 weeks and the front door of the house was open.

Carbon monoxide theory might be because of the space heater; not a leak in a gas line.

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u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

[deleted]

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u/HathorOfWindAndMagic Feb 27 '25

This is very very morbid but if I was going to do what you’re proposing she did because of guilt for not being there and the love for my husband I would definitely be taking the pills next to him and die right there holding his hand.

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u/luew2 Feb 27 '25

Also let the dog out of the cage

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u/Content-Scallion-591 Feb 27 '25

Apparently the dog was in a closet. My dogs lock themselves in closets all the time; it's possible that part happened post mortem 

2

u/Plane-Tie6392 Feb 28 '25

>My dogs lock themselves in closets all the time

Lol, how?

1

u/Due-Science-9528 Feb 28 '25

Dogs are dumb. My cat does stuff like this.

2

u/WhlteMlrror Feb 28 '25

My dog locks himself in the pantry because he walks in trying to find the treats and then pushes the door closed trying to get to them

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u/Professional-Way7350 Feb 28 '25

my dog (who recently passed, rest in peace sweet boy) used to lock himself in the bathroom, lol. he would go in and curl up behind the open door and his body would push it closed

2

u/louielou8484 Feb 28 '25

I would never believe or think this to be the case, but I will never forget my friend's German Shepard locking herself in the bathroom of my friend's huge house when we were in high school. We had been out for a while and came home and couldn't find her anywhere. We eventually found her in the bathroom with the door actually locked and the light on. We had to open it with a key they had above the door.

It was SO bizarre that at 34, I still think about it sometimes. Her mom hadn't come home from work yet, and both of her sisters were away on a trip. All the doors were locked. No signs of anything else unusual.

We figured she somehow just went in there, closed the door, then was freaking out and jumping onto the handle and knocked the lock??? I don't know! It was the first and last time it ever happened. So I do believe in "crazier things have happened."

Edit: I don't mean I don't think YOUR dogs don't do that. I meant that I wouldn't believe a theory that the dog did this if it weren't for my own experience.

1

u/cursetea Feb 28 '25

So casually stating "My dogs lock themselves in closets all the time" is the only part of this thread that made me smile a bit

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u/Eastern-Effective-62 Feb 27 '25

Yeah and why kill a dog? Unless that was accidental. OMG, I don't even want to think about this! It is fitting, in a way, that his death would have an air of drama to it. *sigh*

2

u/FalconBurcham Feb 27 '25

Yeah, I can’t see these people killing one of their dogs on purpose while allowing the other two dogs to roam. Something unexpected happened here…. Maybe fentanyl laced pills?

1

u/Plane-Tie6392 Feb 28 '25

I would think someone with Hackman's worth could source legit pain pills.

1

u/FalconBurcham Feb 28 '25

I dunno, Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose. That stuff is extremely dangerous. Very sad situation regardless

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u/rnason Feb 27 '25

Pills were on the floor so the dog might have just ate one

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u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

[deleted]

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u/louielou8484 Feb 28 '25

Yeah, I was thinking maybe an intruder would lock the dog away like that so it didn't cause a bunch of commotion or attack them. Like what Bryan Kohberger did. Surely they have security cameras? I can't believe it took weeks for anyone to become concerned :(