Actress Hayden Panettiere was pronounced dead at the scene in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday after emergency responders found her unresponsive following a suspected overdose.
Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on August 21, was found at Judson Mill Lofts, located at 701 Easley Bridge Road, after officers and EMS personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive female at approximately 1:51 pm.
A spokesman for the City of Greenville Police Department stated on Monday that an acquaintance placed the 911 call, and a preliminary investigation indicated no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.
Audio from the 911 call revealed that Panettiere suffered cardiac arrest, while TMZ reported that Narcan, an emergency nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses, was found on a mattress in the apartment.
The Greenville County Sheriff's Office confirmed an autopsy showed no signs of physical trauma on her body, though Chief Deputy Coroner Shelton England said it remains too early to confirm the overdose theory as investigations continue.
A representative for Panettiere released a statement confirming her death, saying her family will remember her as an "incredible light" who brought "immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her."
One day before her death, Panettiere flew from Los Angeles to South Carolina with her on-off boyfriend, real estate agent Brian Hickerson, who is originally from South Carolina.
Relationship with Brian Hickerson and domestic abuse
Panettiere began dating Hickerson, 37, in 2018 shortly after wrapping the sixth and final season of her television series Nashville while struggling with substance abuse issues.
Their four-year relationship was marked by multiple domestic violence incidents and arrests, beginning in May 2019 when Hickerson was arrested following an incident with Panettiere before charges were dropped and a protective order was issued.
Hickerson was arrested again on Valentine's Day in 2020 after allegedly punching her, later recalling: "I had a lot to drink, and I got physical with her, and I got arrested, spent the night in jail. That's just what happens when you lay hands on women."
In July 2020, Hickerson was arrested in connection with eight domestic violence charges, eventually pleading no contest in April 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a partner while remaining charges were dropped.
He received a 45-day county jail sentence and served 13 days in May 2021, prompting Panettiere to state she hoped her story would "empower others in abusive relationships to get the help they need and deserve."
Panettiere later told People magazine she stood by her statement, explaining: "None of it is OK. But I want to make sure that everybody knows that each person who goes through something like that, they're on their own journey. No two things are exactly alike."
The couple was also involved in a 2022 altercation at the Sunset Marquis hotel in Los Angeles, where TMZ reported Hickerson spat on a customer, though her representative said he was confronting someone about leaving a waitress a poor tip.
Panettiere reflected on forgiving Hickerson, stating: "I think [Brian] has done his time and was willing to get help. I think about the things I have done in my life that people forgave me for. Making amends is a really important thing that you learn in treatment. And it gives you a lot of inner peace."
Hickerson confirmed they eventually became just friends, but admitted in May 2026 to TMZ that he hoped to marry her, saying: "Yeah, of course... I hope so - she probably doesn't think the same way."
When asked about his comments at LAX airport, Panettiere laughed and replied: "I don't think that's going to happen."
Hickerson also admitted asking her to remove an incident from her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which he threw a phone at her, stating: "I did it. I did it. I went into such a dark place, man, drugs, alcohol."
Engagement to Wladimir Klitschko and custody of daughter
Panettiere is survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, whom she welcomed in December 2014 during her longest relationship with former professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko, 50.
The pair met at a party in 2008, began dating in 2009, and split in 2011 before reconciling in 2013 and getting engaged in October of that year.
Panettiere praised Klitschko as a devoted father after Kaya's birth, saying: "He is just so over the moon. I'm lucky if I can get my hands on the kid. He's like, 'No, no, I got her.'"
However, Panettiere struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction, which began at age 15 and worsened while she battled postpartum depression, leading her to seek treatment when her daughter was four months old.
Describing her mental health battle, she noted: "It's something a lot of women experience. When [you're told] about postpartum depression you think it's 'I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure or hurt my child.'"
Following their split in 2018, Panettiere made the difficult decision to sign full custody of Kaya over to Klitschko, allowing her daughter to move to his native Ukraine.
Speaking to Dear Mome in May, Panettiere explained: "It wasn't a decision I made lightly, nor was it a decision I even wanted to make. I was going through a really challenging time in my life."
On Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, she added: "I have been the one who sought it out, who was saying, 'I desperately need help. I know this is going to look terrible, but I am. I cannot live like this anymore...' The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking."
She chose not to relocate Kaya back to the United States once healthy, explaining: "By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me to, and selfish of me to try to pull her out of this life that she had been creating."
Early romances with Stephen Colletti and Milo Ventimiglia
Panettiere dated actor Stephen Colletti from 2006 to 2007 while she was starring in Heroes and he appeared on Laguna Beach and One Tree Hill.
In an April interview with Us Weekly, Panettiere credited Colletti, now 40, with helping her handle media scrutiny: "He was able to help guide me through that experience and getting used to that. He never appeared to be or came off as a bad guy. So I knew that there was a way to protect yourself and put up boundaries without being offensive or rude."
Reflecting on their split, she added: "We just ended up going our separate ways, there wasn't really a story there. We don't keep in touch the way that I wish we did, because he's such a great guy, but there was no drama."
Colletti is now married to Alex Weaver, with whom he shares a child, and recently appeared on the reality series The Traitors as a Faithful.
Late in 2007, 18-year-old Panettiere began dating her Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia, who was 30 at the time, before they split after 14 months in 2009.
Panettiere recalled earlier this year that her inability to say "I love you" directly created friction: "I could only say 'love you' in a casual way. Being older, he was much more aware of what that meant. And that said a lot."
Reflecting on their age gap, she noted: "At 18, I lived so much life that he almost couldn't count me as being 18. So Milo and I, even though he was 30, had a lot more in common than people might think."
Ventimiglia, now 49, is married to Jarah Mariano and shares two children.
Panettiere also dated retired NFL wide receiver Scotty McKnight between 2011 and 2012, as well as Welsh TV presenter Steve Jones, singer Jesse McCartney, and late Pink Taco founder Harry Morton. McKnight, now 38, shares three children with partner Tayla Burke.
Career milestones and coming out as bisexual
Panettiere began her career as a child actor in soap operas before starring in the 2000 sports drama Remember The Titans alongside Denzel Washington and voicing Dot in Pixar's 1998 animated film A Bug's Life.
She achieved international fame playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in NBC's superhero drama Heroes and earned two Golden Globe nominations portraying country star Juliette Barnes on Nashville, scoring 11 entries on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Her film credits included Bring It On: All Or Nothing, Raising Helen, and playing Kirby Reed in Scream 4 and Scream VI.
In May 2026, Panettiere publicly came out as bisexual in Us Weekly, revealing she had secretly dated women since a young age despite constant paparazzi presence outside her home.
"I've chosen to share it with the world, I'm comfortable saying I'm bisexual," she said at the time. "It's sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?"
In her final Instagram post before her death, the actress shared photos celebrating "good times and good friends."
