Police Close Panettiere Death Probe After Overdose Ruling

Greenville police on Oct. 28, 2026 closed their investigation into Hayden Panettiere's death, ruling it accidental and filing no charges. Officers found the 36-year-old unresponsive around 1:50 on Aug. 16 in a Greenville, South Carolina apartment. Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach were present. Paramedics performed extended CPR. A deputy coroner found drug paraphernalia. Toxicology showed fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. The autopsy found no trauma. Coroner had ruled the death accidental in September. Panettiere said she struggled with mental health, anxiety and postpartum depression and had sought treatment herself. "I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and the postpartum and having to act my way through it, and just feeling like I completely lost myself," she said. In September her rep called unnamed-source reports unverified hearsay and asked for patience. Anna Paquin and Christy Carlson Romano later wrote about pressures on former child stars. Contested: Outlets agree on the accidental ruling and police closure; no public dispute is reported. Unresolved: whether the DEA or other federal authorities are still examining the case. Sgt. Diana Munoz would not comment on other agencies. Klitschko told a California court federal agents and an unnamed nonrelative took some property; the court granted him status this month to protect assets for their 11-year-old daughter, the sole heir.