Posted Thu 29 Oct 2026 at 11:41amThu 29 Oct 2026 at 11:41am
Last month, a coroner found Hayden Panettiere died from an accidental overdose of several drugs. (AP: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
In short:
Police in South Carolina say actor Hayden Panettiere's death was accidental and the case is now closed.
The 36-year-old was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville on August 16.
A coroner's report last month said her death was from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl.
Police in South Carolina have closed their investigation into the overdose death of actor Hayden Panettiere following a coroner's finding that it was accidental.
The decision was based on the medical examiner's determination as well as the findings of the investigation, Greenville police said in a statement on Wednesday, local time.
Panettiere, best known for the TV series Heroes and Nashville, was pronounced dead in an apartment in Greenville on August 16 after paramedics found her unresponsive.
She was 36.
A coroner's report last month said her death was from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl, and she had been in rehab just weeks before.
Her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach Hickerson were at the home.
It remains unclear whether federal authorities may still be examining the case separately.
In a petition to a California court last month, Panettiere's ex-fiance, former boxer Wladimir Klitschko, said some of her property had been taken by federal law enforcement agents investigating her death and by an unnamed non-relative looking to sell it.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment, and Greenville police Sergeant Diana Munoz said she could not comment on whether any other agencies were investigating.
The California court granted Mr Klitschko legal status this month to protect Panettiere's property for their 11-year-old daughter, who is her sole heir.
In This Is Me: A Reckoning, a memoir that was published in May, Panettiere acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and having postpartum depression after her daughter's birth in 2014.
The girl went to live with Mr Klitschko full-time when she was aged two.
Panettiere's father told investigators that at the time of her death, she had plans to visit her daughter in Ukraine days later.
AP
Source: ABC Australia
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