The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined the investigation into Hayden Panettiere’s death, according to new reports.
Sources familiar with the investigation say the DEA will assist the Greenville City Police Department, which is leading the investigation, the New York Times and ABC News reported
Panettiere, known for her roles in Heroes, Nashville, and Ice Princess, was found dead at age 36 in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday. The actress was days away from her 37th birthday.
She is suspected to have died of an overdose, according to several reports and dispatch audio obtained by People.
Panettiere had a history of substance abuse and had undergone treatment at a rehabilitation center for eight months in 2021. “As I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without,” she told People in 2022.
As a result of her dependence on alcohol and opioids, and struggle with postpartum depression, Panettiere decided to relinquish custody of her daughter, Kaya, to her ex-partner Wladimir Klitschko in 2018.
Panettiere divulged her experience with addiction in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was published in May. She recalled being given a “happy pill” as a 16-year-old, years into her career as a young TV actress, by a member of her team. Panettiere said the pill became a “gateway drug” to her subsequent addictions.
At one point in her addiction, she recalled, a “doctor told me that if I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years.”
She also dove into the other harrowing life experiences that textured both her personal life and career, including the death of her brother Jansen, who died in 2023 at age 28, and her abusive relationship with partner Brian Hickerson.
Hickerson has been at the center of headlines and speculation since Panettiere’s death. He was with the star when she died.
Hickerson, Panettiere’s on-again-off-again partner who admitted injuring the star in the past, has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case.
On Monday, police said there were no initial signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. However, cops arrived at Hickerson’s family home in South Carolina three days after Panettiere’s death.
Police and emergency personnel arrived to revive an unresponsive Panettiere on Sunday afternoon. Panettiere was reportedly found in a chair in the living room of a rented Airbnb, while Hickerson was sleeping in a separate room.
Medical officials found Panettiere in a state of cardiac arrest and attempted to revive her.
![Hayden Panettiere (L) and Ethan Suplee stars of the new film "Remember The Titans" pose as they arrive for the film's premiere at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena September 23, 2000. [The film is about the T.C. Williams High football team in Alexandria, Virginia in the early 1970's during a time when the school had just been integrated to allow blacks to attend. The film opens September 29 in the United States.]](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/ZJYLCQM7TBGRBKVFICE2BB4KTY.JPG?auth=805a5828822fd689cba8d1af3b6b3b12d264a38c3e6dde8c48a96d4386421c67&width=800&height=910)
According to a heavily redacted police report, Hickerson showed police officers the bag of medication Panettiere was taking when she died.
Panettiere has spoken openly about experiencing injuries and physical pain over the years. Just this May, Panettiere told Women’s Health that she experienced nerve damage in her lower back from an injury.
In her memoir, Panettiere shared, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Addicts aren’t patient.”
“When we’re shaking, nauseated, anxious, lonely or depressed, we need instant relief that sends us into that pain-free place called denial.”
