The Santa Fe sheriff and the city's medical examiner shared that the mysterious deaths of the actor and his pianist wife were due to severe cardiovascular disease and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, respectively.

At a press conference last week, Dr Heather Jarrell, New Mexico's chief medical examiner, said Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a respiratory illness caused by exposure to infected rodents. Hackman's death was the result of significant heart disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a contributing factor.

The tragic deaths of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa have brought conversations around dementia and caretaking to the forefront and this can help families moving forward.