A DEAD rat and rodent droppings have been found at the mansion where Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead.
Officials have revealed disturbing new details about the conditions of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s $3.8m estate.
Arakawa, 65, died after contracting a rare disease linked to rodents at the couple’s New Mexico estate, autopsy results revealed last month.
While Hackman, 95, was said to have died from complications linked to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Reports have now revealed the full extent of the rodent infestation at the property, after investigations in March.
Dead rat, nest and droppings were found at various parts of the sprawling property.
There were rodent faeces in three garages, two casitas and three sheds.
A live rodent, a dead rodent and an entire nest were found in the three detached garages, according to the New Mexico medical investigator’s office.
These findings, only now revealed publicly, were not included in the initial report after Hackman and Arakawa were found dead in their home on February 26.
Arakawa died from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease humans can contract from contact with rodents, rodent feces, saliva and urine.
The New Mexico Department of Health initially reported that there was no rodent activity in the main house.
However, all the other eight outbuildings and two vehicles on the property were accessible to rodents, the report revealed.
In these outbuildings, live traps were also discovered.
According to experts, Arakawa could have picked up the deadly disease by cleaning those specific areas of the property.
She was reportedly found lying dead on the bathroom floor near an open bottle of prescription medication.
Hackman died several days after his wife, results suggest.
The star was found in the kitchen with no food in his stomach, but he showed no signs of dehydration.
Since he lived with advanced Alzheimer’s, medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said it was likely Hackman had not realised his wife Arakawa was dead.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, or HPS, has a 41% fatality rate for patients in New Mexico – the state with the most reported cases of the virus in the US.
But the disease is very rare, with just 864 cases documented in the US between 1993 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It spreads through the inhalation of airborne particles containing the virus which is often found in the urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents.
HPS presents flu-like symptoms at the beginning that can take up to two months to manifest.
There is no specific treatment for the virus or its symptoms.
