As detectives investigate the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, friends lament how they had become increasingly isolated in their final years and stopped receiving guests.

On February 26, Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered deceased in their expansive $3.8 million residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, along with one of their canines, as Fox News reported.

The Hollywood couple is suspected to have been deceased for a period of up to two weeks before maintenance workers discovered the scene and contacted emergency services.

The householders were seldom observed by the 911 caller and another employee, who subsequently informed the authorities.

The Final Days

According to longtime close friends Barbara Lenihan, 75, of Santa Fe and her husband, author Daniel Lenihan, 79, no red flags were raised between the pair dying and their bodies being found, but it was common for the couple to fade from view for long periods.

A friend of Daniel's for over 30 years, Hackman, he last saw "years" ago, according to Daniel's interview with the New York Post.

Barbara, who co-owned a home décor store with Arakawa, mentioned that she had last seen Hackman about a year ago.

She had corresponded with Arakawa via email for the past few weeks, and their last in-person meeting was earlier this year. She claimed that over the past few years, the couple had "become insular" more and more.

From Friends

“People loved to be around them,” she said. “We used to spend a lot of time at their house but it’d been a while since they were comfortable having others over.

“They were a little insular and that was fine, it just got tougher for them to have people over.

“We’re all deeply saddened. We’re all just in shock and can’t believe [that they are dead],” she added.

The cause of the Oscar winner and his wife's unsolved deaths remains a mystery, even after almost a week has passed.

The Investigation

Since the victims were "private individuals and a private family," Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza stated that it had been a "challenge" to piece together what happened before their deaths.

“One of the things is in an investigation, we try to piece a timeline together,” Mendoza said in a press conference on Friday, adding investigators are having to work “backwards” on the case.

Police discovered the actor on the mudroom floor close to his cane, while Arakawa, the actor's wife, was located in the bathroom, next to a space heater, with an open prescription bottle and pills spilled on the countertop, according to the search warrant affidavit.

Deputies found Arakawa's hands and feet mummified and noticed "body decomposition, bloating in her face," according to the report. According to the police, Hackman seems to have "suddenly fallen."