Officials: Autopsies show Santa Fe woman died of hantavirus; husband’s death from heart disease

Sheriff Adan Mendoza of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and public-health officials on Monday said autopsy results show that 65-year-old Betsy Hackman died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome while her husband, 95-year-old Gene Hackman, died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s disease noted as a contributing condition.

The finding, announced at a news conference with officials from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator and the New Mexico Department of Health, followed a multiagency investigation that began after the couple and their dog were found at their Santa Fe residence. "The cause of death for Miss Betsy Hackman, aged 65 years, is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome," said Dr. Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner for New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator.

The confirmation matters because hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a rare but serious zoonotic illness carried by rodents. "The hantavirus found in New Mexico, the Sin Nombre virus, is found primarily in deer mice," said Dr. Erin Phipps, New Mexico’s state public health veterinarian, who described how infections typically arise from exposure to rodent excrement and emphasized prevention steps for homeowners and responders.

Autopsies and testing Dr. Jarrell said she performed an autopsy on Betsy Hackman on Feb. 27 and that Dr. Daniel Gallego performed a full autopsy on Gene Hackman the same day. Laboratory testing at a clinical lab with confirmatory testing at the Scientific…