Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman’s Wife, Asked About Flulike Symptoms Before Deaths

Days before she and her husband, the actor Gene Hackman, died at their home, Betsy Arakawa repeatedly searched online about flu- and Covid-like symptoms, according to records released on Tuesday by New Mexico authorities.

The records — including witness interviews, photographs of the scene and police body camera footage — provided some new insights into the final days of the couple at their home near Santa Fe in February.

After his wife’s death, Mr. Hackman, 95, lived alone in the home for nearly a week before dying of heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor.

Ms. Arakawa, 65, died from hantavirus, which is contracted through the exposure to excrement from rodents and can cause flulike symptoms before progressing to shortness of breath, as well as cardiac and lung failure.

Police records released in the case on Tuesday included Ms. Arakawa’s Google searches a couple of days before her death, including “can Covid cause dizziness?” and “Flu and nosebleeds” on Feb. 10.

The next day, she emailed her massage therapist to cancel an appointment, writing that her husband woke up that morning with “flu/cold-like symptoms” but had tested negative for Covid. That day, she ordered oxygen canisters from Amazon for “respiratory support.”