Hayden Panettiere’s death now being investigated by DEA
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is reportedly joining the multi-agency investigation into Hayden Panettiere's passing.
The Nashville star died aged 36 on August 16 after being found in a South Carolina apartment. Paramedics attempted CPR and other emergency measures before she was declared dead.
It has since been revealed that on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson, 37, and his brother were with Panettiere at the time of her death.
Per a police report – which was heavily redacted – Hickerson handed over a 'bag of medication' to officers at the scene. It is unknown if the actress had taken drugs or was using alcohol when she died, having previously battled addiction issues.
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Greenville County Coroner’s Office has said that it could take up to three months for a toxicology report.
Now the DEA has reportedly joined the high-profile investigation into Panettiere's death, which enforces the country's controlled substance laws and regulations, according to a source familiar with the case who spoke to the New York Times.
The DEA will be able to look into whether controlled substances were obtained or distributed illegally. A similar investigation was carried out following the sudden passing of Friends alum Matthew Perry, who died in 2023.
Greenville County Coroner’s Office and Greenville Police Department are the other agencies tied to the case.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya (born in 2014), whom she shared with ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
The retired Ukrainian boxer paid tribute to his daughter's mom with a moving statement posted to Instagram.
"Our family is going through a time of profound shock and grief," he began.
"The announcement of Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply. She left this world far too soon. Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter, Kaya.
"She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives.
"To our daughter Kaya, I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person she was.
"I extend my deepest condolences to Hayden’s parents, her friends, and her fans, who are also grieving today. Young and talented people like Hayden should not leave this world so soon.
"I ask everyone to please respect our family’s feelings and privacy during this incredibly difficult time. For now, this is all I wish to say.
"Thank you to everyone who is supporting my family and expressing their sincere condolences.
"Rest easy, Hayden. May you find eternal peace. #WeLoveYouHayden."
A timeline of Hayden Panettiere’s troubled Hollywood career
August 1989
Hayden Panettiere is born to firefighter Skip Panettiere and Lesley Vogel, who would go on to be Hayden’s manager.
1990
Panettiere appears in a commercial at 11 months old, later landing recurring roles in soap operas as a child actor.
2004/2005
Aged 15, Panettiere said someone on her team started offering her ‘happy pills’. She later tells People: “They were to make me peppy during interviews.
"I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”
2006
Aged 17, Panettiere lands one of the defining roles of her career as Claire Bennett in Heroes.
2007-2009
Panettiere later reveals several disturbing incidents that happened during this period in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
Aged 18, she claims she was led onto a yacht by ‘somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector’ and placed into bed next to an ‘undressed man who was very famous’.
In 2008, she alleged a network executive kissed her on the lips at a party.
Aged 19, she said a ‘well-respected, award-winning actor’ tricked her into looking at his testicles through an unzipped fly.
In 2007, she also starts dating Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia - she is 18 and he is 30. They split in 2009.
2009
Panettiere starts dating Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
Meanwhile, her father Skip is handed two years of informal probation after pleading ‘no contest’ to spousal battery.
2013
Panettiere and Klitschko get engaged.
December 2014
Panettiere and Klitschko’s daughter Kaya is born. Panettiere endures an incredibly difficult pregnancy, haemorrhaging during her C-section and being forced to undergo a three-hour surgery.
2015
Panettiere begins suffering severe post-partum depression. She later tells Jay Shetty on his On Purpose podcast: “I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. I wasn't connecting with [Kaya] the way I should be.”
She uses alcohol to manage her mental health struggles and enters treatment when Kaya is four months old.
She later says she became dependent on medication to sleep, and then turned to drinking vodka.
2018
Klitschko presents Panettiere with custody papers asking for full custody of Kaya. After initially fighting back, she eventually accepts and Kaya goes to live with Klitschko in Ukraine.
She writes in her memoir: “Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life”
Meanwhile, her long-running role in TV show Nashville comes to an end and she doesn’t have any more TV or film roles for five years.
In the same year, she starts dating actor Brian Hickerson.
2020
Panettiere spends an eight-month stint in rehab.
She experiences brutal alcohol withdrawal symptoms including insomnia and intense headaches.
Meanwhile, her now-ex Hickerson is charged with felony assault.
2021
Hickerson pleads no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse/cohabitant/girlfriend/child's parent and is sentenced to 45 days in jail and four years probation.
2023
Panettiere returns to acting, reprising her role as Kirby Reed in Scream VI.
In the same year, her brother Jansen dies aged 28 from an enlarged heart.
May 2026
Panettiere releases her memoir in which she makes disturbing allegations against film stars and industry execs from when she was a teenager.
She also opens up about her experience of postpartum depression and comes out as bisexual.
August 2026
Panettiere tragically dies. Police say: “The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
Topics: Hayden Panettiere, US News, Police
Niamh Shackleton