Doctor disputes police claims over date Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died
A doctor has denied police claims regarding the death of Gene Hackman‘s wife, Betsy Arakawa, stating that he spoke to her 24 hours after they believed she died.
On March 7th, authorities revealed that medical professionals determined that Arakawa passed away on February 11th, a week before Hackman died. Their report established she died due to complications when battling hantavirus, a fatal disease often carried by mice. The autopsy of Hackman determined that he had passed away due to cardiovascular disease and an ongoing struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The couple were initially found on February 26th at their home in Sante Fe, Mexico, with a police report ruling out any possibility of foul play. During the investigation, it was discovered that Hackman’s pacemaker had been inactive since February 17th, which suggests he’d been dead for nine days before his body was found.
In an affidavit conducted by the Santa Fe police, the couple was discovered in opposite areas of the home showing “obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet”.
Now, Dr Josiah Child, a former emergency care specialist who now runs Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico, claims the date issued by the police is incorrect regarding Arakara’s death. Dr Child told MailOnline: “Mrs Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12.”
Dr Child added: “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.”
Arakawa was allegedly due to see Child two days before their final conversation but cancelled the appointment due to her husband’s health.
The medical professional added: “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.”
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