Gene Hackman's daughter makes heartbreaking request to cops after his death in newly released bodycam footage
Topics: Gene Hackman, Dogs, News, Celebrity
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Jeffrey Mayer
Topics: Gene Hackman, Dogs, News, Celebrity
Gene Hackman's daughter made a sad request to police following the discovery of her father, stepmother, and one of their dogs.
Last month, the bodies of both Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found at their New Mexico home.
They were discovered in separate rooms of the property and it was later revealed that they had died at different times for different reasons.
It's believed Arakawa passed on February 11 from natural causes. It's then thought that Hackman died several days later on February 18 — the last day his pacemaker recorded any activity.
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As for why the actor didn't report his wife's death, it's been suggested that the Hollywood veteran 'likely didn't know she had died' because he was suffering with Alzheimer's.
More information about what followed the celebrity couple's deaths have since been released by police, and on Friday (March 21) the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office shared bodycam footage which detailed a phone call an officer had with Hackman's daughter, Elizabeth.
In the video (dated February 27) obtained by TMZ, a detective calls Elizabeth to discuss Hackman and Arakawa's surviving dogs, as well as the pet that died.
The policeman explained to Elizabeth — who has not been named in her father's $80 million will — that the deceased dog can be cremated and then she can collect the ashes.
She then asks that the dog, believed to have been called Zinna, is buried with her late stepmother and that the collar is saved for her to keep before the pet's cremation.
As to how Zinna died, authorities confirmed that the beloved dog died from dehydration and starvation.
Zinna was found in her crate that she'd been kept in after undergoing surgery. Meanwhile, Hackman and Arakawa's other dogs were found roaming around their home.
Their pets helped alert police to where Hackman's body was.
Recalling their behavior, Santa Fe Fire Department Chief Brian Moya said the dogs kept barking at them as if trying to get their attention.
"They realized (the dog) was trying to say, ‘Hey, come over here! Come over here'," Moya said.
Officers then followed the two pets who lead them to the mudroom where Hackman had died.
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