Mystery grew over the death of Gene Hackman‘s wife Betsy last night after a doctor revealed she had called his private clinic 24 hours after police claim she died.

The Santa Fe medical examiner claimed a post-mortem examination showed Betsy died of hantavirus, a rare rat-borne respiratory disease, on February 11 – a full week before her Oscar-winning husband died of heart failure combined with Alzheimer’s disease.

But last night Dr Josiah Child, a former emergency care specialist who now runs Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Mrs Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12.

‘She’d called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband. She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her. She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory.’

He added that two days before she was due to see him, she cancelled her appointment, saying her husband was not well.

Dr Child said: ‘She called back on the morning of February 12 and spoke to one of our doctors who told her to come in that afternoon.

‘We made her an appointment but she never showed up. She did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress. The appointment wasn’t for anything related to hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply.’

+5
View gallery

The Santa Fe medical examiner claimed a post-mortem examination showed Betsy died of hantavirus, a rare rat-borne respiratory disease, on February 11 – a week before her husband

+5
View gallery

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza speaks during a press conference at the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office

The doctor’s revelation that Mrs Hackman could have been alive for at least a day longer than the coroner has claimed casts further mystery over her death.

The 65-year-old was found on the bathroom floor of the couple’s isolated Santa Fe home surrounded by pills with her husband on the floor of a utility room 20ft away.

His pacemaker showed he died on February 18. A post-mortem examination revealed there was no food in his stomach, and investigators believe his Alzheimer’s meant he may not have realised his wife of 34 years had died.

One of their three dogs, which was in a crate recovering from surgery, died of starvation and dehydration.

Mrs Hackman, a pilates-loving ‘fitness fanatic’, was ruled to have died from hantavirus, which is contracted by inhaling rat or mice faeces.

Dr Child added: ‘I am not a hantavirus expert but most patients who have that diagnosis die in hospital. It is surprising that Mrs Hackman spoke to my office on the phone on February 10 and again on February 12 and didn’t appear in respiratory distress.’

An LA-based doctor told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Medical professionals are all scratching their heads over hantavirus as the cause of death.

+5
View gallery

The 65-year-old was found on the bathroom floor of the couple’s isolated Santa Fe home surrounded by pills with her husband on the floor of a utility room 20ft away

+5
View gallery

Mrs Hackman, a pilates-loving ‘fitness fanatic’, was ruled to have died from hantavirus, which is contracted by inhaling rat or mice faeces (Pictured: Hackman and Arakawa in New Mexico in March 2024)

‘Respiratory failure is not sudden – it is something that worsens over several days.

‘Most people get admitted to the ER [emergency room] because they are having trouble breathing. It’s exceedingly rare for a seemingly healthy 65-year-old to drop dead of it. In fact, no one’s heard of such a thing.’

Mrs Hackman was last seen ‘running around’ Santa Fe on February 11, visiting a chemist, pet food store and supermarket.

Mystery also surrounds who will inherit the $80 million Hackman fortune. The actor had three children but his estate was tied up in a private trust.