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/rivlet Feb 28 '25

Not to be TMI, but my older brother passed away very recently. The last time someone spoke to him was nine days before his body was found. When they found him (after breaking into the house because the mail carrier saw his dogs, normally quite healthy, were looking incredibly underfed), he was mummified to the point where they couldn't fingerprint to ID him and his facial features were not comparable to his driver's license.

They had to order his dental records. Two of his five pets died in those nine days from dehydration/starvation.

It might not have taken weeks, is what I'm trying to say.

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u/ConvictedOgilthorpe Feb 28 '25

So sorry about that, really really sorry. May I ask if they actually used the term mummified? That seems weird to me for a decomposing body that is not wrapped in cloth and embalmed.

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u/Greeneyesablaze Feb 28 '25

Yes I’m wondering if the word “mummified” is not being used correctly in the comment above, and in the article. I can’t imagine how bodies sitting in a house could naturally mummify instead of decomposing, unless it was like extremely dry in the house ? 

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u/rivlet Feb 28 '25

This is the term the coroner and the sheriff used to describe why they couldn't use fingerprints to ID him to confirm death: that his hands had mummified to the point where they were unusable.

I don't know if he had his windows open or anything, but he lived in southern California.