A DOCTOR claims Gene Hackman’s wife called him 24 hours after officers said she died – casting more mystery over the couple’s deaths.

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Betsy Arakawa with one of her german shepherd dogsCredit: Handout
Betsy Arakawa was found to have passed on February 11 from a rare rodent disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome – a week before her Oscar-winning husband passed.

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Actor Gene Hackman arrives with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly HillsCredit: AP

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Officials held a press conference to tell the public about their investigation into the deathsCredit: Reuters

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But former emergency care specialist and runner of Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, Dr Josiah Child, claims that Betsy couldn’t have died on February 11 because “she called my clinic on February 12”.

He told the Mail that Betsy called him a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband.

Child said Bets was not a patient of his, but one of his patients had recommended Cloudberry to her.

He said: “She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory.”

And just two days before she was due to see him, Betsy canceled her appointment because her husband wasn’t well, Dr Child claims.

“The appointment wasn’t for anything related to hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply.”

Hantavirus spreads when exposed to rodents’ urine, droppings, and saliva, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr Child has raised questions over her cause of death, linking to the mysterious call to the doctor’s office and how she sounded on the phone.

Child said he is not a hantavirus expert but most patients who have that diagnosis die in hospital.

He said: “It is surprising that Mrs Hackman spoke to my office on the phone on February 10 and again on February 12 and didn’t appear in respiratory distress.”
Gene Hackman’s cause of death revealed after actor, wife Betsy Arakawa & dog found dead in ‘suspicious’ mansion mystery
But Dr Child isn’t the only one confused over Betsy’s hantavirus diagnosis.

Betsy’s Oscar-winning husband Hackman, who was suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s, was alone in the house for days following his wife’s death.

It is possible that he did not know of Betsy’s body in the bathroom.

He died on February 18 when the  last signal from the actor’s pacemaker was recorded.

Gene Hackman’s family’s full statement

Gene Hackman’s family has spoken out on the actor’s death after he was found dead with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their Santa Fe home.

Hackman’s daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie, and his granddaughter, Annie, released the statement.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” Elizabeth, Leslie, and Annie Hackman said.

“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa.

“We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

The medical examiner ruled his cause of death as hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiac disease and noted that his Alzheimer’s will have played a “significant” role in his death.

He tested negative for hantavirus, Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell revealed.

Neither body was found until February 26 when a neighborhood caretaker called 911 after finding them unresponsive at the property.

The couple was extremely private in their final years, living in a cul-de-sac of their gated community.

Hackman is survived by two daughters and a son from a previous marriage.

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Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa together in 2001Credit: Getty