Police in Greenville, South Carolina, announced on Wednesday that the death of actor Hayden Panettiere has been ruled accidental and that their investigation is finished.
"Based on the Medical Examiner's determination and the findings of the investigation, Hayden Panettiere's death has been ruled accidental," Greenville police said in their statement.
Panettiere, 36, who starred in the television series "Heroes" and "Nashville," was found unresponsive on Aug. 16 at a South Carolina apartment complex where she had been staying.
Last month, the Greenville County Coroner's Office concluded that her death was an accident caused by the toxic effects of several drugs: fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. The coroner reported no signs of trauma that could have played a role in her death. Police have also said that nothing suggesting foul play turned up during the initial response and the investigation that followed.
According to the coroner's report, Panettiere had been in rehab only weeks earlier. She had spoken publicly about her struggles with addiction.
Her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was at the complex when she died. The police report says he showed officers a "bag of medication" that he said she had been taking at the time.
After the coroner's findings were released, Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, described her daughter as a "fighter" who was "transparent with her addictions and her numerous rehab attempts show her resolve to live a healthy life." Vogel added that she had "never heard Hayden speak of fentanyl."
Panettiere began her career in Hollywood as a child actor and went on to build her own path, with roles in the films "Remember the Titans," "Ice Princess" and "Bring It On: All or Nothing."
In her memoir, she wrote that her life started to unravel after she had a daughter in 2014 with Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. She said she turned to heavy drinking to cope with postpartum depression and Klitschko's emotional distance. She entered rehab and, in 2018, gave Klitschko custody of their child.
The book also addressed the pain and grief she carried after the death of her brother, Jansen Panettiere, in 2023 from an undiagnosed heart condition.
