Investigation Launched into Deaths of Gene Hackman and Wife at Santa Fe Home: Report

The deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa are now reportedly a part of an active police investigation. 

Hackman and Arakawa were both found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home alongside their dog, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed to the Santa Fe New Mexican early on Thursday, Feb. 27. 

The sheriff’s office shared with NBC News that there is “an active and ongoing investigation” into the couple’s deaths. 

Police were first called to the residence on Old Sunset Trail in Santa Fe around 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, “where Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased,” the county sheriff’s public information officer, Denise Womack-Avila, said in a statement to NBC News. 

Womack-Avila added that “foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time, however, the exact cause of death has not been determined.” 

The bodies of actor Hackman and Arakawa were not formally identified until 12:30 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The sheriff’s office told local station KOB 4 that a neighbor called the police to carry out a welfare check, leading to the discovery of their bodies.

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Hackman was a legendary screen actor with roles in The French Connection, Superman and The Royal Tenenbaums. His wife Arakawa was a classical pianist. The pair married in 1991. Hackman shared three children with his first wife Faye Maltese — Christopher Allen Hackman, 63, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, 61, and Leslie Ann Hackman, 57. 

The actor was a five-time Oscar nominee — and two-time winner — and played the villain Lex Luther in the 1978 film Superman. He had a diverse career with roles in the 1998 animated film Antz and the 1996 comedy The Birdcage. He retired from acting after 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport. 

PEOPLE has reached out to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office for comment and updates on the investigation.