Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa’s names had been on a list of ‘ unclaimed decedents ‘ on the New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) website
The names of Gene Hackman and his spouse Betsy Arakawa have been quietly scrubbed from New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) list of “unclaimed decedents”, amidst rumours suggesting a bitter family division at play over the bodies left unattended.
This comes after mounting speculation that their loved ones had yet to lay claim to the bodies, igniting talks of “family feud”. Up till Thursday night, the Hackmans were still marked on the OMI’s website, but by Friday morning, People observed they’d vanished from the record.
An official from the medical examiner’s office clarified to People that even if a name is present on the list, “in many cases, OMI is in contact with legal next of kin, and plans are underway to transport the body to a funeral home or place of burial”.
According to the current protocol, an “unclaimed decedent” implies individuals have been ID’ed, but Next-of-Kin haven’t been tracked down. This revelation comes hot on the heels of conjecture earlier this week suggesting their kin hadn’t taken responsibility for their remains a month post their passing.
Gene, aged 95, and Betsy, aged 65, were discovered dead inside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, alongside one of their trio of canine companions in February. Come March, the specifics surrounding Gene and Betsy’s demise came to light.
Officials ascertained the pianist’s end came due to hantavirus, a respiratory ailment often passed via rodent leavings while the Academy Award-honoured thespian succumbed a week subsequent owing to a medley of severe cardiac disease, accentuated blood pressure, and progressed Alzheimer’s condition.
Their beloved pooch, Zinna, is thought to have tragically passed away due to dehydration and starvation. The fate of the late actor’s whopping $80 million fortune remains uncertain, as it was originally intended to be left to his wife.
In her will, Betsy decided to leave her assets to a trust, with the aim of distributing them to charitable causes and settling any outstanding medical bills.
Earlier this month, a New Mexico court has approved a temporary hold on the release of documents related to the death of Gene and Betsy containing sensitive footage and images.
The temporary restraining order, which was granted on Monday, was submitted by Julia Peters, a representative for the couple’s estate, to protect the family’s right to privacy in grief under the 14th amendment of the US constitution.
Under the order, documents containing images or videos of the body of Hackman or Arakawa, the interior of their home, or their deceased animals, cannot be released.
Post-mortem examination and death investigation reports are also not able to be disclosed by the Office Of The Medical Investigator under the hold.
The US state’s open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of people who are deceased. But the bulk of death investigations by law enforcement and post-mortem examination reports by medical investigators are still typically considered public records under state law to ensure government transparency and accountability.
It comes after Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office found that Betsy’s phone was last used on February 12 to call a medical centre in Santa Fe called Cloudberry Health.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said three calls were made to Cloudberry Health, and one from the medical centre to Arakawa’s phone was made that afternoon, and appeared as a missed call on the device.
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