Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa found dead in their New Mexico home

Gene Hackman, an Oscar-winning actor, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were discovered dead in their New Mexico home with their dog, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. He was 95.

Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were discovered dead in different rooms of their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home, according to a search warrant that deemed their deaths "suspicious."

Their causes of death have yet to be determined, but "the circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals (are considered) to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation," a sheriff's deputy stated in an affidavit for a search warrant obtained by affiliate KOAT.

According to the search warrant, the deaths are "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation."

When contacted via phone, Hackman's daughter, Elizabeth, rejected comment.

Deputies were summoned to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, "where Gene Hackman, 95, his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased," according to the county sheriff's public information officer, Denise Womack Avila.

According to the affidavit, maintenance workers discovered Hackman and Arakawa's dead in their house.

The deputy stated in the statement that he discovered Arakawa laying on the ground inside a bathroom with a space heater near her head and an open bottle of prescription tablets on a nearby countertop. A dog was discovered dead in the bathroom closet.

Hackman's corpse was recovered on the floor of another room near the kitchen. The deputy "suspected the male individual (had) suddenly fallen," according to the affidavit. The deputy stated that Hackman and Arakawa looked to have perished days ago.

Two more healthy canines were discovered in other areas of the house. The front entrance was open and unsecured, with no evidence of forced entry or larceny.

The fire crew arrived at the house and tested it, but "did not locate signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning," according to the warrant.

In their initial public statement on the deaths, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office said, “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time.” A sheriff's office representative indicated on Wednesday that an updated statement would be issued later in the day.

Medical examiner reports with the ultimate cause of death "generally take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to generate," according to Chris Ramirez, a representative for the New Mexico medical investigator's office.

Hackman's performances in movies like "The French Connection," "Hoosiers," "Unforgiven," and "The Firm" pushed character parts to leading-man status.

Hackman's most memorable performances were as conflicted authority officials or shockingly brilliant white-collar villains, such as the legendary, wicked Lex Luthor in the 1970s and 1980s "Superman" film series. Many had a hint - often more than a hint - of danger.

He earned an Oscar for his performance in 1971's "The French Connection" as New York officer Popeye Doyle, a detective who gets his man but at a heavy cost.  In 1974's "The Conversation," his surveillance specialist becomes obsessed and loses perspective.

He received his second Oscar for his role as Little Bill Daggett, the murderous sheriff in Clint Eastwood's 1992 picture "Unforgiven."

Hackman has spent the last few decades living in Santa Fe with Arakawa, a former classical pianist, and has mainly avoided the spotlight.

Hackman has three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.