The couple were found dead in their New Mexico home last month with officials saying the pair had been dead for some time before they were discovered by neighbourhood security.

Officials initially said they believed Arakawa died on 11 February and Hackman died one week later.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office now says they have confirmed that Arakawa made multiple calls to a health clinic on 12 February for medical treatment, which the clinic told BBC she never was able to received.

The sheriff’s office said they learned of the calls when they received cell phone data from her phone.

They said there were three calls made that morning to Cloudberry Health, a personalized concierge medical practice in the area. She received a fourth call, also from the clinic.

The sheriff’s office noted it never reported an official date of death for her and said that initially they’d stated that Arakawa’s last known activity was on 11 February. Authorities say she’d exchanged emails with a massage therapist and visited a grocery store, pharmacy and a pet store. Garage clicker data showed she returned home around 5:15 p.m. that day.

Dr Josiah Child, who leads Cloudberry Health, told the BBC that while the clinic had never treated Hackman or Arakawa, she had reached out for medical advice.

“She called and described some congestion but didn’t mention any respiratory distress, shortness of breath, or chest pain,” he said.

Arakawa initially had scheduled an appointment for 12 February but cancelled on 10 February, explaining that she needed to care for her husband, Dr Child said.

On the morning of 12 February, she called again seeking treatment but because no doctor-patient relationship had been established, the clinic told her she needed to be seen in person.

“There were a couple calls back and forth to just schedule that appointment for the afternoon, but she never showed up,” Dr Child explained. “Our office called back several times and never got an answer.”

The couple were both found dead on 26 February.

Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell stated that “based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that [Betsy] passed away first.”

The Santa Fe medical examiner determined she died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-borne respiratory disease.

Authorities believe Hackman died on 18 February – the date of his last recorded pacemaker activity, which showed an abnormal rhythm of atrial fibrillation.

His cause of death was severe heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease listed as a contributing factor. Experts believe his Alzheimer’s may have prevented him from realising his wife of more than 30 years was dead in the home where he was living.

If he did, experts told the BBC, he likely went through various stages of confusion and grief, trying to wake her up before the disease caused him to become distracted or too overwhelmed to act – a process that likely repeated for days before he, too, died.

A necropsy report also revealed that one of the couple’s three dogs, which had been crated while recovering from surgery, died from starvation and dehydration.

As the investigation continues, representatives for Hackman and Arakawa’s estate have taken legal action to block the release of body camera footage and other visual evidence from their home when their remains were discovered.

A New Mexico judge has issued a temporary restraining order that prevents their release, with a hearing set for March 31.

The two-time Academy Award winner left his entire estate to his wife, Betsy Arakawa. The couple was found dead in their New Mexico home in February, and authorities said Arakawa died seven days before her husband.

Although Hackman’s three children were not named in his will, they may still have a claim to his estate under state laws.

But they would need to prove that the will does not kick-in because Arakawa died before Hackman, a legal expert told the BBC. His children have not commented publicly on the will.

Legal documents obtained by the BBC show Hackman, 95, named Arakawa, 65, as his sole beneficiary in 1995, with the last update to the will in 2005.

Hackman shared three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese: Christopher, 65; Elizabeth, 62; and Leslie, 58.

California attorney Tre Lovell told the BBC that the children could challenge the will.

He said unless an alternative beneficiary is named in his trust, the estate could default to his children under succession laws.

“The estate will actually be probated in accordance with intestate succession laws and the children would be lawfully next in line to inherit,” he said.

Mr Lovell added that Hackman’s children would need to prove that the will is invalid because Arakawa died before him.

Authorities say Arakawa passed away on 11 February after contracting a rare virus, days before Hackman died of natural causes.

The couple – married for more than 30 years – was found dead in separate rooms of their $4m Santa Fe home on 26 February after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check and saw their bodies on the ground through a window.

Arakawa was found in the bathroom with pills scattered nearby, while Hackman was in the back of the house, wearing sweatpants and slippers, his cane and sunglasses beside him.

Officials determined he died seven days after his wife due to severe heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s listed as a contributing factor.

Authorities initially deemed the scene “suspicious” but later ruled out foul play.

Arakawa’s own will left her assets to Hackman, with a provision that if they died within 90 days of each other, her estate would go to a trust and later be donated to charity after covering medical expenses.

Hackman has in the past discussed his relationship with his children.

“You become very selfish as an actor,” he told The New York Times in 1989. “Even though I had a family, I took jobs that would separate us for three or four months at a time. The temptations in that, the money and recognition, it was too much for the poor boy in me.”

Hackman’s children, though rarely in the public eye, occasionally attended red carpet events with him.

In another interview, Hackman talked about the difficulty his children had of growing up with a parent who was constantly in the spotlight.

“It’s tough being the son or daughter of a celebrity,” he told The Irish Independent in 2000. “I couldn’t always be home with them when they were growing up, and then, living in California, they’ve had my success always hanging over their heads.”

His daughters and granddaughter expressed deep affection for him after his passing.

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

Hackman, 95, died at his Santa Fe home from coronary artery disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease a contributing factor.

Ms Arakawa, 65, died in the same house from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a respiratory illness caused by exposure to infected rodents. Her cause of death was listed as natural.

Authorities believe she passed away about seven days before her husband, to whom she had been married for more than 30 years. During his career, Hackman won two Academy Awards for The French Connection and Unforgiven.

It is likely that Ms Arakawa died first on 11 February, Dr Heather Jarrell of the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office told a news conference on Friday.

She said it was “reasonable to conclude” that Hackman had died on 18 February.

Ms Arakawa’s last known movements and correspondence were on 11 February, when she was seen going to a grocery store, a CVS pharmacy and a pet store, before returning home in the early evening.

Given that Hackman was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease it is “quite possible that he was not aware that she [his wife] was deceased”, said Dr Jarrell.

She told reporters she was “not aware of his normal daily functioning capability”.

Watch: Gene Hackman may not have known Betsy Arakawa was dead

Hackman had “significant heart disease, and ultimately that’s what resulted in his death”, Dr Jarrell said, adding that he had had chronic high blood pressure.

He had not eaten anything recently, but had shown no indications of dehydration, she added.

At the news conference, New Mexico Public Health Veterinarian Erin Phipps emphasised that hantavirus infections were extremely rare.

HPS is transmitted through contact with rodent droppings, urine or saliva, often when contaminated dust is inhaled.

She noted that 136 cases had been reported in the state over the past 50 years, with 42% resulting in fatalities.

Dr Phipps said evidence of rodent activity had been found in some buildings on the property, though the risk inside the main house was considered “low”.

Investigators are trying to determine how Ms Arakawa contracted the illness. Hackman tested negative for hantavirus.

The couple were found in their home after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check and saw their bodies on the ground through the window.Gene Hackman reflects on career and acting

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The remains were discovered in advanced stages of decomposition.

Hackman’s body was in a sideroom next to the kitchen, with a walking cane and a pair of sunglasses nearby, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Ms Arakawa’s body was in the bathroom, with scattered pills close to her.

Sheriff’s deputies found medication for thyroid and blood pressure treatment, along with pain reliever Tylenol, according to a court-filed inventory.

Citing privacy laws, authorities did not disclose who had been prescribed the drugs.

One of the couple’s three dogs was also found dead inside a crate near Ms Arakawa, while the other two dogs were alive.

The cause of death for the dog is yet to be determined, officials say. Dr Phipps told reporters that dogs did not get sick from hantavirus.

Initial investigations found no signs of forced entry or foul play at the couple’s $3.8m (£3m) home. Tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative, and no significant gas leaks were detected.

Hackman is survived by three adult children from his previous marriage.Listen to the 911 call after two bodies found at Hackman residence

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Hackman met Ms Arakawa when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times has previously reported.

He won best actor Oscar for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection, and another for best supporting actor for playing Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western film Unforgiven in 1992.

A relative latecomer to Hollywood, Hackman saw his breakthrough come in his thirties, when he was nominated for an Oscar for portraying Buck Barrow in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde – opposite Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway – and again for I Never Sang for My Father in 1970.

Both films saw him recognised in the supporting actor category. He was also nominated for best leading actor in 1988 for playing an FBI agent in Mississippi Burning.

He played more than 100 roles during his career, including supervillain Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies in the 1970s and 1980s.

Hackman featured opposite many other Hollywood heavyweights including Al Pacino in 1973’s Scarecrow and Gene Wilder in 1974’s Young Frankenstein.

His last big-screen appearance came as Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport in 2004, after which he stepped back from Hollywood for a quieter life in New Mexico.

Officials said on Friday that evidence points to Hackman having been dead since 17 February – 10 days before the couples’ bodies were found.

Here is what we know so far about the death of a Hollywood legend known for such films as The French Connection and The Conversation.

The bodies of the couple and one of their dogs were found by police on Wednesday at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after a maintenance worker called emergency services.

In a recording of the 911 call obtained by the BBC, the emotional caller can be heard telling a dispatcher how he found the two bodies.

Hackman, 95, was discovered in a side room near the kitchen while Arakawa, 65, was found in a bathroom, at the property on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park.

The couple appeared to have been “dead for quite a while”, said Sheriff Adan Mendoza.

Arakawa’s body showed signs of “decomposition”, and “mummification” in the hands and feet, a sheriff’s detective said.

Hackman’s remains “showed obvious signs of death, similar and consistent” with those on his spouse.

A German Shepherd dog owned by the couple was found dead in a bathroom closet near to Arakawa.

No cause was given in police statements immediately after the announcement of the deaths.

The authorities reported no signs of injury but deemed the deaths “suspicious enough” to investigate and did not rule out foul play.

A carbon monoxide poisoning test came out negative for both Arakawa and Hackman, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s office said on Friday.

Near Arakawa’s head was a portable heater, which the detective determined could have been brought down in the event that she had abruptly fallen to the ground.

An autopsy and toxicology tests have been requested for both Hackman and Arakawa. Authorities said it could be a few months before the results of those are released.

The local utility company found no sign of a gas leak in the area and the fire department detected no indication of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, according to the search warrant.

A prescription bottle and scattered pills lay on the bathroom countertop close to Arakawa’s body. Prescription pills found in the home were common medications for thyroid and high blood pressure, according to a search warrant.

Hackman was discovered wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt and brown slippers. Sunglasses and a walking cane lay next to his body.

The detective suspected that the actor had suffered a sudden fall.

The circumstances of their death were deemed “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation”, the search warrant says, because the worker who called emergency services had found the front door of the property open.

However, the detective observed no sign of forced entry into the home. Nothing appeared out of place inside.

“There was no indication of a struggle,” said Sheriff Mendoza. “There was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed, you know, that would be indication that there was a crime that had occurred.”

Two other, healthy dogs were discovered roaming the property – one inside and one out.

Authorities said Hackman’s pacemaker last registered activity on 17 February, adding that this gives them a good assumption that was his last day of life.

But police said it is unclear who died first – Hackman or Arakawa.

The two maintenance workers who found the couple, one of whom called the emergency services, say they last had contact with the couple two weeks earlier.

The two said they had sometimes conducted routine work at the property, but rarely ever saw Hackman and Arakawa.

They had communicated with them by phone and text, primarily with Arakawa.

Hackman’s daughter Leslie Anne Hackman told the Mail Online that her father had been in “very good physical condition” despite his age, and had not undergone “any major surgeries” in recent months.

“He liked to do Pilates and yoga, and he was continuing to do that several times a week,” she said. “So he was in good health.”

The couple, married in 1991, had had a “wonderful marriage”, she added.

“I give credit to his wife, Betsy, for keeping him alive,’ she said. ‘[Betsy] took very, very good care of him and was always looking out for his health.”

Here is what we know so far about the death of a Hollywood legend known for such films as The French Connection and The Conversation.

The bodies of the couple and one of their dogs were found by police on Wednesday at their home in Santa Fe in the US state of New Mexico after a maintenance worker called emergency services.

A recording of the 911 call obtained by the BBC shows the emotional caller telling a dispatcher how he found the two bodies.

Hackman, 95, was discovered in a side room near the kitchen while Arakawa, 65, was found in a bathroom, at the property on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park.

The couple appeared to have been “dead for quite a while”, said Sheriff Adan Mendoza.

Arakawa’s body showed signs of “decomposition”, and “mummification” in the hands and feet, a sheriff’s detective said.

Hackman’s remains “showed obvious signs of death, similar and consistent” with those on his spouse.

A German Shepherd dog owned by the couple was found dead in a bathroom closet near to Arakawa.

No cause was given in police statements immediately after the announcement of the deaths.

The authorities reported no signs of injury but deemed the deaths “suspicious enough” to investigate and did not rule out foul play.

Near Arakawa’s head was a portable heater, which the detective determined could have been brought down in the event that she had abruptly fallen to the ground.

Carbon monoxide and toxicology tests have been requested for both Hackman and Arakawa.

The local utility company found no sign of a gas leak in the area and the fire department detected no indication of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, according to the search warrant.

The warrant suggests police may have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened but that they do not know yet and are not ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

A prescription bottle and scattered pills lay on the bathroom countertop close to Arakawa’s body.

Hackman was discovered wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt and brown slippers. Sunglasses and a walking cane lay next to his body.

The detective suspected that the actor had suffered a sudden fall.

The circumstances of their death were deemed “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation”, the search warrant says, because the worker who called emergency services had found the front door of the property open.

However, the detective observed no sign of forced entry into the home. Nothing appeared out of place inside.

“There was no indication of a struggle,” said Sheriff Mendoza. “There was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed, you know, that would be indication that there was a crime that had occurred.”

Two other, healthy dogs were discovered roaming the property – one inside and one out.

All we know is that two maintenance workers, one of whom called the emergency services, say they last had contact with the couple two weeks earlier.

The two workers said they had sometimes conducted routine work at the property, but rarely ever saw Hackman and Arakawa.

They had communicated with them by phone and text, primarily with Arakawa.

Hackman’s daughter Leslie Anne Hackman told the Mail Online that her father had been in “very good physical condition” despite his age, and had not undergone “any major surgeries” in recent months.

“He liked to do Pilates and yoga, and he was continuing to do that several times a week,” she said. “So he was in good health.”

The couple, married in 1991, had had a “wonderful marriage”, she added.

“I give credit to his wife, Betsy, for keeping him alive,’ she said. ‘[Betsy] took very, very good care of him and was always looking out for his health.”