Gene Hackman’s daughter wants the actor’s dog to be buried with his wife.
New bodycam footage from the day after the Oscar winner, 95, and his wife Betsy Hackman were found dead at their New Mexico property last month shows the late actor’s daughter Elizabeth ensuring that the final resting place of their kelpie mix Zinna is alongside Betsy, 65.
In the Feb. 27 bodycam footage, which PEOPLE obtained from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office as part of the Hackman investigation, an officer calls Elizabeth, 62, from inside a police vehicle to ask what to do with the body of the beloved dog, who was found dead in the home alongside the late couple.
Initially, Elizabeth — the middle child of Gene’s three kids — asks the officer if cremation is an option for Zinna and, once the animal control officer confirms that it is, she tells him, “I’m thinking cremate the dog and bury it with Betsy.”
Elizabeth Hackman and Gene Hackman in 1979.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection
“And,” she later requested, “if the dog is wearing a collar, could you save that for me?”
Another bodycam video captured outside the couple’s residence on Feb. 26 depicts a dog trainer who knew the couple recalling how much the actor and the classical pianist — who had two other dogs, Bear and Nikita, in addition to Zinna — “loved” their pets. (The Hackmans’ estate has been granted a temporary block on all photos, videos and police bodycam footage depicting the interior of their residence.)
“They were dog nuts,” said Joey Padilla, the owner of a local pet daycare and training facility, Santa Fe Tails, who told authorities he had previously worked with the couple’s dogs.
“You can see, there’s toys everywhere around their property,” he added in the footage. “They loved their dogs.”
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Prior to marrying Betsy in 1991, Gene welcomed his three children with his first wife Faye Maltese: Christopher, 63, Elizabeth, 61, and Leslie, 57. Following his death, daughters Elizabeth and Leslie, as well as the late actor’s granddaughter Annie Hackman, shared a statement with PEOPLE.
Betsy and Gene Hackman in 1994.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” the statement read. “He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
The causes of Gene and Betsy’s deaths were revealed in March, weeks after they were found dead. The pianist died from hantavirus, a flu-like virus linked to rodent droppings, while her actor husband died a week later from a combination of severe heart disease, high blood pressure and advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
Meanwhile, Zinna likely died of dehydration and starvation, Santa Fe County animal control previously revealed.
Padilla — who took care of the couple’s surviving dogs, Bear and Nikita, following their deaths — previously told the Associated Press that the late kelpie mix “was always attached to Betsy at the hip and it was a beautiful relationship.”
Zinna “went from being a returned shelter dog to this incredible companion under Betsy’s hand,” he added at the time.
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