According to the Daily Mail, Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa are buried in a barren patch of grass under a tree at Santa Fe Memorial Gardens. There is no plaque marking Gene Hackman's grave, and no evidence that well-wishers marked the anniversary of his death with flowers. The couple was found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home by maintenance workers on February 26 last year.
Betsy Arakawa was last seen alive on February 11, 2025 at a Santa Fe CVS and last heard from on February 12 when she phoned a doctor complaining of respiratory problems. The Santa Fe Medical Examiner reports that Betsy Arakawa died on February 12, 2025 due to complications from hantavirus, a respiratory disease caused by rats. Gene Hackman, who had Alzheimer's Disease, continued to live in the home for a week after Arakawa's death, unable to comprehend what happened, before dying on February 18.
The cause of Gene Hackman's death has not been determined. Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were buried together a month after their deaths in a secret ceremony attended by Hackman's three children: Christopher (66), Elizabeth (64), and Leslie (59). None of Gene Hackman's three children have chosen to mark his grave.
Gene Hackman's will deliberately excluded all three of his adult children, who were estranged at the time of his death. Gene Hackman's three children have filed for 'interested party' status in the probate case concerning his will and estimated $80 million fortune. The current status of the probate case and the children's 'interested party' filings is unknown.