Sheriff Not Completely Ruling Out Foul Play in Deaths of Gene Hackman, Wife

• Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and Santa Fe Fire Department Chief Brian Moya appeared on the Today show, discussing the investigation of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s mysterious deaths
• Mendoza told Savannah Guthrie that while he’s “pretty confident there’s no foul play just based on the lack of evidence” for it, they’re “not ruling that out”
• “I think the autopsy results, the official results, are going to help steer us in the right direction,” he added

It’s unclear at the moment whether foul play was a factor in the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa — but authorities haven’t ruled it out.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza spoke to Savannah Guthrie on Today Friday, Feb, 28, where he said he was “pretty confident there’s no foul play just based on the lack of evidence” for it.

“But we, of course, are not ruling that out. I think the autopsy results, the official results, are going to help steer us in the right direction,” said Mendoza.

The autopsy is “key,” he said, noting it would “take some time” and asking the public for patience.

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were each found dead in separate rooms of their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Feb. 26. A German Shepherd they owned was also found deceased, while two other dogs were discovered alive and healthy on the property.

Arakawa’s body was found in a bathroom near an open bottle of pills with capsules scattered about, a sheriff’s deputy wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant reviewed by PEOPLE. The deceased dog was found in a closet about 10 to 15 feet away. Hackman was discovered in another room.

Both bodies displayed similar “obvious signs of death,” including “mummification,” suggesting they may have been dead for some time.

The sheriff said Thursday, Feb. 27, there were “no apparent signs of foul play” but nonetheless called the circumstances of the deaths “unusual.”

Santa Fe Fire Department Chief Brian Moya, who was first to arrive on the scene, also spoke to Guthrie on the Today show, where she asked him if it was still his belief that Hackman and his wife of more than 30 years “may have just fallen.”

“When we arrived on scene, my paramedics did do an evaluation, and it was obvious [that they were dead]; we didn’t do any life-saving measures, so at the time we didn’t need to get any closer due to the fact that it was an obvious sudden death,” he said.

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As for whether a gas leak or carbon-monoxide poisoning had been ruled out completely, “At the time of the incident, we did not determine anything that was in the house with our meters that was concerning to our guys doing the searches,” said Moya on Today.

Mendoza admitted it’s “very difficult to put a timeline together” for when the couple died, suggesting they may have been dead “up to a couple of weeks.”

Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were taken to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Santa Fe, where an autopsy was performed. Investigators report there were no signs of “external trauma” after the initial probe, but no cause of death has been determined.

Full carbon monoxide and toxicology tests have been ordered for the late couple, though results could take weeks to arrive.

“Based on my experience, a toxicology report could take some time — it could take up to three months or even possibly longer. It just depends how busy the laboratory is,” Mendoza said on Today.

Added the sheriff, “But we’re hoping it comes sooner [rather] than later so we can help answer some of these questions, and hopefully it’ll help us in our investigation to help determine the matter and cause of death.”