Autopsy Confirms Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman’s Wife, Died of Hantavirus

Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly disease transmitted via infected rodents; it does not spread between humans.
Autopsy Confirms Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman’s Wife, Died of Hantavirus
Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. AP Photo
Rudy Blalock
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Betsy Arakawa, a concert pianist and the wife of late actor Gene Hackman, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, according to a final autopsy report released Tuesday.

The report, made public two days after Hackman’s autopsy findings, detailed that Arakawa’s lungs were “heavy and congested,” with fluid buildup in her chest and mild hardening of the blood vessels supplying her heart and body, confirming an earlier positive test result for hantavirus.