The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined the investigation into Hayden Panettiere’s death after she died Sunday at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina. The Greenville City Police Department is still leading the case, but the addition of a federal drug agency signals that investigators are not treating the death as a routine scene.
Panettiere was 36. She died at a home on Easley Bridge Road in Greenville after an officer responded to an EMS assist for an unresponsive individual, and officials later arrived to help with the investigation. The coroner was also on scene.
That is why readers are searching her name now: a federal agency has entered an active death inquiry involving a well-known actress whose personal life has long drawn public attention. In May, Panettiere released This Is Me: A Reckoning, a memoir described as opening up about postpartum depression, addiction and recovery, trauma, domestic abuse and loss. She was also known for roles in Ice Princess, Heroes, Nashville, Remember the Titans, Raising Helen and several Scream films.
The report leaves an important gap. It says it is unknown whether Panettiere was using drugs or alcohol at the time of her death, even though Brian Hickerson showed police the bag of medication she was taking. The officer also said Panettiere was with Hickerson and his brother, Zack Hickerson, when she died. That detail does not answer why the DEA became involved, but it shows investigators are still trying to sort out what happened in the room before she was pronounced dead.
For now, the official cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies. Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya, whom she shared with Wladimir Klitschko, and the final answer on how she died will have to wait until those findings are complete.
