Hayden Panettiere's death had 'no sign of foul play' after star's sudden passing aged 36
Hayden Panettiere's death had 'no sign of foul play,' police say.
Detectives reportedly confirmed to the Daily Mail that they responded to a 911 call from an 'acquaintance' of Panettiere, describing her as 'unresponsive'. The actor was pronounced dead at the scene.
"On August 16, 2026, at approximately 1.51pm, officers from the Greenville Police Department, accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female at Judson Mill Lofts, located at 701 Easley Bridge Road," a spokesperson for City of Greenville Police told the outlet.
"Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Advert
"The case is under investigation by the Greenville Police Department in conjunction with the Greenville County Coroner's Office," the statement continued.
"The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. An acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call."
Police say there no further details are available for release at this time.
In a statement to ABC News on Sunday, August 16, Panettiere's father, Skip, said: “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden.
“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”
Panettiere’s father Skip asked for privacy as the ‘family takes time to process this unimaginable loss’.
Panettiere was in the limelight from just 11 months old, when she appeared in a toy commercial, paving the way for her to become a childhood star.
In 1994, she joined the ABC soap opera One Life to Live before moving to CBS’ Guiding Light a couple of years later.
At the age of nine, she made her feature film debut after landing the role of narrator and Princess Dot in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life.
It was in 2006 when she gained mainstream fame, playing the role of Claire Bennet, a high school cheerleader, in the NBC series, Heroes.
She starred in Scream 4 Kirby Reed in 2011, reprising her role for Scream 6 in 2023, after a five-year acting break.
Tributes have been pouring in for the star since news of her death was announced with podcast host Jay Shetty, who conduced one of the star's final interviews just months before her death, writing: “I can’t believe it. Our friendship had just begun and I was so moved by the conversation we shared earlier this year. My love and condolences to her family and fans."
Panettiere’s Scream 6 co-star, Melissa Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in the film was one of the first to pay tribute, simply writing on her Instagram story: “Rest in peace sweet Hayden.”
Oscar winner Viola Davis, who starred alongside Panettiere in The Architect in 2006 and Custody from 2016, also paid tribute, writing on Instagram: "What an amazing talent you were... so gifted.
"I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming. I saw this beautiful Phoenix rising from the ashes.
"Your tests became your testimony, and your testimony became your legacy. You will be remembered. Rest well, Hayden."
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, hemorrhaging 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 on 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, Celebrity, News
Kiesha Dosanjh