Gene Hackman’s daughter asked cops to cremate her dad’s dog and bury the remains with his wife in bodycam footage after all three were found dead in their home.
Elizabeth Hackman made the request to cops after they found the bodies of the late actor, 95, Besty Arakawa, 65 and their kelpie mix Zinna at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Newly released police bodycam footage obtained by TMZ shows the star’s daughter quietly discussing the arrangements.
‘I’m thinking cremate the dog and bury it with Betsy,’ she says. ‘If the dog was wearing a collar, could you save that for me?’
Other video obtained by KOB4 shows the heartbreaking moment cops arrived to the scene and interviewed a shell-shocked staff member who first found the couple.
He explained he hadn’t heard from them in a while and immediately became suspicious when he arrived to the property and found the dogs loose.
‘They’re never supposed to be out and so at that point I knew something was wrong,’ he told police.
‘I told the officer, “You know whose house this is?” and he said, “I do, it’s Gene Hackman’s”.’
Gene Hackman ‘s daughter asked cops to cremate her dad’s dog and bury the remains with his wife after all three were found dead in their home
Newly released police bodycam footage shows the star’s daughter quietly discussing the arrangements after the bodies were discovered at the late actor’s Santa Fe, New Mexico home
Elizabeth Hackman (pictured with daughter Annie) asked cops to save kelpie mix Zinna’s collar prior to the cremation
The couple were discovered lying dead in separate rooms of their home on February 26.
Hackman was found in the home’s entryway, and Arakawa was found in a bathroom. Zinna had been placed in a crate following a visit to the vet.
Investigators initially ruled the deaths as suspicious, but noted there were no signs of forced entry or anything in disarray.
The bodies were discovered in a state of partial mummification at their $3.3 million mansion.
A fan had fallen near Arakawa, who was also surrounding by a scattering of prescription pills which suggested a fall to investigators.
An autopsy eventually revealed that Arakawa died on February 11 from Hantavirus, a rare but fatal disease spread by rodents, while Hackman died from a combination of heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
The actor’s pacemaker showed he died on February 18. Their dog passed away due to dehydration.
Hackman was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s Disease when he died and relied on Arakawa as his care giver.
The couple were discovered lying dead in separate rooms of their home on February 26
An autopsy eventually revealed that Arakawa died on February 11 from Hantavirus, a rare but fatal disease spread by rodents, while Hackman died from a combination of heart disease and Alzheimer’s
Experts said he may not have even realized that his wife was dead in the week leading up to his own death.
Hackman’s other two dogs, who endured weeks of hell in a house of death, have begun their own road to recovery after finally being placed in new loving homes, DailyMail.com has learned.
But 7-year-old German Shepherd Bear and Nikita, an Akita-shepherd mix, have lost each other’s companionship as they have been split up following their ordeal.
