Police have said that the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife are "suspicious".

It was initially widely reported there were no signs of foul play but new information has revealed there was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa in the couple's Santa Fe home.

A search warrant has revealed the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation", according to”AFP”.

The Academy Award-winning actor, his classical pianist wife Betsy Arakawa, and the couple's dog were found dead in different rooms of their home in New Mexico on Wednesday, February 26.

Hackman was found dead in a mudroom, while Arakawa was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, detectives said.

According to local media, police officers arrived at the couple's home in a gated community to investigate the deaths of two elderly people and a dog.

It remains unclear whether police were responding to a report or if they were making a welfare check, local media reported.

Hackman is best known for playing Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the 1971 film "The French Connection", for which he won the Best Actor Oscar, and "Little" Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's 1992 Western "Unforgiven", for which he won Best Supporting Actor. He also played villain Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve in the original "Superman" franchise.

Over the course of his career, Hackman was also nominated for Oscars for his performances in 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde", 1970's "I Never Sang for My Father" and 1988's "Mississippi Burning".

He also won two BAFTAs, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

His other roles include "The Poseidon Adventure", "Scarecrow, A Bridge Too Far", "The Firm", "The Quick and the Dead", "'The Birdcage", "Enemy of the State", "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Runaway Jury".

His last film, "Welcome to Mooseport", was released in 2004, after which he retired from acting. He relocated to New Mexico and stepped away from the limelight, rarely being seen in public.

Hackman was married twice and had three children. He married Arakawa in 1991.

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Investigation launched into the mysterious deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa