Hayden Panettiere's mother reveals narcotics investigator called in following star's sudden death
A narcotics investigator has been brought in to assist with the active death investigation into the passing of actress Hayden Panettiere, her mother, Lesley Vogel, has confirmed.
The 36-year-old Heroes and Nashville star was found unresponsive on Sunday at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina. Despite emergency resuscitation efforts by responding paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Speaking regarding the ongoing multi-agency probe, Vogel revealed that law enforcement officials informed her a narcotics specialist had been assigned to work alongside local detectives and the Greenville County Coroner's Office.
Vogel expressed deep concern over the circumstances surrounding her daughter's sudden passing, noting that she plans to speak directly with lead detectives to gain clarity on what unfolded.
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"A narcotics investigator was called," Vogel confirmed, addressing the active police inquiries into medications and potential substances found at the scene. "We are trying to get information."
Vogel also addressed the presence of Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, who was at the apartment alongside his brother when first responders arrived.
Police incident reports noted that Hickerson handed responding officers a bag containing medications that Panettiere had reportedly been taking, with specific drug names redacted in public records.
Multi-Agency Probe Underway
The disclosure from Panettiere’s mother follows reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is assisting local authorities in examining the source of any controlled substances located during the initial response.
The Greenville Police Department initially noted that preliminary assessments showed no visible signs of foul play or physical trauma. However, officials emphasized that an official determination regarding the cause and manner of death remains pending the completion of comprehensive toxicology testing.
Panettiere, who began her screen career as a child actor before earning widespread acclaim for roles in Remember the Titans, Heroes, and the Scream franchise, had spoken candidly in recent years about her battles with addiction and mental health. Tributes have poured in from fans and former co-stars worldwide following the tragic news.
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
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