Hayden Panettiere case closed by South Carolina police - KCRA

Police in Greenville, South Carolina, have officially closed their investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, ruling the August 16, 2026, incident entirely accidental based on final medical findings and local police work, KCRA reported.

Medical Findings and Toxicology Report

Panettiere was 36 years old when paramedics found her unresponsive inside an apartment at the Judson Mill Lofts in Greenville. Last month, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office released its final report on the death, stating that the cause was the toxic effects of multiple substances. According to the coroner, the specific drugs involved included fentanyl, 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol, and Quetiapine.

On August 16, 2026, actress Hayden Panettiere in Greenville, South Carolina, at the age of 36. https://t.co/LnROPK7IB9

— https://x.com/usweekly/status/2089717741213114439

The coroner’s office noted that no signs of trauma were discovered during the examination that would have contributed to the death. Following that medical determination, the Greenville Police Department announced Wednesday that the investigation is concluded with no criminal charges filed.

Federal Involvement and Unanswered Questions

While local authorities have finalized their review, the status of potential federal inquiries remains less clear. As previously reported by sister station WYFF, the Drug Enforcement Administration had offered assistance to local investigators.

The DEA previously stated that it routinely assists state and local authorities in complex drug-related death investigations when requested and appropriate, though it declines to comment on specific ongoing cases to protect their integrity. Following the Greenville Police Department’s announcement closing the local case, WYFF reached out to the DEA for an update on Wednesday.

Greenville police Sgt. Diana Munoz stated that she could not comment on whether any other agencies were investigating the matter, and the DEA did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Family Context and Property Disputes

The Hollywood Reporter noted that Panettiere had been in rehabilitation just weeks before her death, and that her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, along with his brother Zach Hickerson, were at the home when paramedics arrived. In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published in May, Panettiere had acknowledged struggles with alcohol addiction and postpartum depression following the 2014 birth of her daughter, who went to live full-time with her father, former boxer Wladimir Klitschko, when the child was two. Her father told investigators she had planned to visit her daughter in Ukraine days after her passing.

In a related legal proceeding last month, Klitschko filed a petition in a California court stating that some of Panettiere’s property had been taken by federal law enforcement agents investigating her death, as well as by an unnamed nonrelative attempting to sell it. The California court granted Klitschko legal status this month to protect Panettiere’s property for their 11-year-old daughter, who serves as her sole heir.