Gene Hackman's secret burial and unmarked grave where only a cryptic tribute lies... all orchestrated by children he cut from $80m will
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The body of Gene Hackman, one of Hollywood's most illustrious actors, is now lying in an unmarked burial plot on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, unknown even to cemetery visitors paying their respects at nearby graves, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal.
That's perhaps the way the Oscar winner and his late wife Betsy Arakawa, who is buried beside him, would have wanted it, given their decision decades ago to flee Tinseltown for ranch-life.
Their reclusivity meant that their shocking deaths, just days apart in late February, went unnoticed for over a week. Hackman was 95 and his wife of 33 years, Arakawa, was 65.
After autopsy investigations - showing Arakawa had died of a hantavirus infection, before Hackman succumbed to heart disease and advanced Alzheimer's a week later - they were finally buried last month in the Santa Fe Memorial Gardens with no public acknowledgement.
The ceremony was so secret that even some cemetery workers were kept in the dark about who was being buried. Hackman's three adult children from his first marriage attended the service, but ordered management of the Memorial Gardens to keep the news out of the press, the Daily Mail has learned.
Hackman left behind an $80 million fortune, but had cut his children out of his will due to estrangement. Arakawa was to be the sole beneficiary of his estate, but since she died before him, it is unclear whether the money will go to the children - Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 63, and Leslie, 58 - after all.
When the Mail visited the Memorial Gardens on Thursday, staff confirmed the couple was buried there and pointed to the otherwise indistinguishable plot, a three-square-foot patch of dirt alongside a stone driveway.
A 'No Parking' post, meant to hold up a chain-link fence separating the driveway from the grave had toppled onto the Hackman plot. Pedestrians could traipse right over it without knowing they were stepping on Hollywood royalty.
There were no flowers or notes left, only a black softcover book weighed down by two conch shells.
Bizarrely, the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés is a collection of folk stories featuring strong women. The reason behind the book, and who left it, is unknown.
Nearby, three wind chimes hung from a small tree, overlooking a modest four-acre cemetery located on East Rodeo Drive, four miles south of downtown Santa Fe and 10 miles from the Hackman estate.
Rivera Family Funerals & Cremations runs the non-denominational business, which opened in 1954.
Located across from an assisted living facility and featuring a distant view of the southern Rocky Mountains, the memorial gardens feature none of the grandeur or wealth of, say, Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Nor does it have the size or prominence of the Santa Fe National Cemetery.
Until now, the memorial gardens' most famous residents were former New Mexico governor John Miles, and poet and author Winfield Townley Scott.
Reached by the Daily Mail, Rivera's general manager refused to discuss the Hackman burial or even acknowledge the couple's presence there.
There is also no mention of the Hackmans on the company's website in their listing of recent funerals and burials.
A staffer, however, told the Mail that the Hackman family lifted their demand for secrecy at the end of April, and they were now free to acknowledge the burials.
'We are very honored to have Gene Hackman buried here at our cemetery,' the staffer said.
Directing the Daily Mail to the innocuous patch of dirt, however, the staffer wouldn't share specifics about the service or when a gravestone may be placed on the plot.
During the afternoon that the Mail was at the site, not a single person stopped by the Hackman plot, or even knew it existed. Instead, they visited other nearby gravesites, many of which were adorned with roses, cards and Easter eggs.
Six family members of another buried occupant gathered just a few stones away, marking what would have been the 21st birthday of a 12-year-old boy who was killed in a car crash in 2016.
'Really, Gene Hackman is here? I had no idea!' the child's grandmother Rebecca Padilla, 56, told the Daily Mail.
'Wow, I've watched a lot of his movies – Hoosiers, Superman, Unforgiven,' she added. 'It was horrific reading about what happened to him in the papers.'
'Honestly, it's surprising he's here because he's a well-known actor,' she said.
Another relative, Brian Ibarra, 17, said, 'You wouldn't guess that somebody of his stature would be buried here. But maybe he wouldn't want something so big. Maybe this is exactly what he would want.'
Hackman and Arakawa were both found dead and partially mummified in their ranch on Feb. 26.
The following day, Hackman's two daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie, were pictured leaving a Denny's restaurant in California. They appeared to be smiling and in good spirits.
Their elder brother, Christopher, has not been seen in years.
It was later revealed that Arakawa had died in their bathroom around Feb. 12 with Hackman dying on Feb. 18. Their dog, Zinna, was also found dead in a crate near Arakawa's body, having likely died of dehydration and starvation.
In footage obtained by the Daily Mail in March, Hackman's eldest daughter Elizabeth can be heard speaking on the phone to police at the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office about what should be done with Zinna's body.
'I'm thinking cremate the dog and bury it with Betsy,' Elizabeth said. It is unclear if that wish has been fulfilled.
Authorities determined that Arakawa died from respiratory symptoms caused by the rare but deadly virus hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is passed on through rodent urine, saliva and feces.
Hackman, who was suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease, is believed to have wandered around the couple's home alone after his wife's death and may not have ever realized she had died. He succumbed to severe heart disease, while Alzheimer's and kidney disease were contributing factors.
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