Santa Fe mourns the mysterious loss of Gene Hackman

As New Mexico authorities investigate the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, their adopted home town of Santa Fe is grappling with the mystery of what happened to the couple.

- Dani Anguiano

Hackman, a Hollywood legend with two Academy Awards over a 60-year career, and Arakawa, a classical pianist, had lived in the area for decades and had embraced the close-knit community that is New Mexico's capital city. Their deaths at the ages of 95 and 65 sent shock waves through the area, famous for its vibrant art scene, adobe buildings and bright blue skies.

"Everybody is really sad - we hold on to our community here," Nedret Gürler, a Santa Fe resident for more than three decades, said inside the rug store she helps run in the city's downtown. "There's so much sadness in our world and [this] felt like another bright light dimmed."

The circumstances around the couple's deaths have made people uneasy, she said. "There's something wrong about it. We all want answers." Those answers may take a while to emerge.

The couple were found last Wednesday after a maintenance worker contacted neighbourhood security, who spotted their bodies through a window and called the police. One of their three dogs was also found dead. They had been dead for "quite a while", according to the Santa Fe county sheriff, Adan Mendoza.