HERMIT HACKMAN'S LONELY LIFESTYLE

Decaying corpses of acting idol, wife & dog could have been avoided

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THE decaying corpses of Hollywood legend turned recluse Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, weren't discovered until nine days after their deaths — and sources tell GLOBE it was a direct result of their hermit-like lifestyles!

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found by a landscaper who spotted their decomposing bodies after peeking into windows of their sprawling Santa Fe, N.M., home on Feb. 26 when they didn't answer the door.

“This is just the most horrifying, undignified way for one of the most loved actors in the world to leave this earth, and everyone has their theories, from a suicide pact to just an unfortunate chain of events,” an insider says.