Greenville Police Close Hayden Panettiere Death Investigation, Rule Overdose Accidental

The Greenville Police Department has closed its investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere and ruled it accidental.

Police announced the decision Wednesday, Oct. 28. "Based on the Medical Examiner's determination and the findings of the investigation, Hayden Panettiere's death has been ruled accidental," the department said in a statement. "The Greenville Police Department has concluded its investigation."

Panettiere was 36. She starred in "Heroes" and "Nashville."

What the coroner found

The Greenville County Coroner's Office ruled in September that she died of the toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam (the generic name for Xanax), methocarbamol and quetiapine. Methocarbamol is a prescription muscle relaxant. Quetiapine is an antipsychotic. 4-ANPP is a chemical associated with fentanyl.

The coroner said the autopsy showed no signs of trauma that contributed to her death. Police said earlier that their preliminary investigation found no indication of foul play or suspicious circumstances.

The coroner's report also said Panettiere had been in rehab just weeks before she died.

The scene on Aug. 16

Emergency responders were called to a Greenville apartment where Panettiere was staying on the afternoon of Aug. 16. A police spokesperson said the call came in around 1:51 p.m. about an unresponsive woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Paramedics found her in cardiac arrest.

Her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach were there. According to a police report, the brothers made the 911 call. According to a coroner's report, one of the men gave her two doses of Narcan before help arrived.

The same report says one of the men told investigators he did not know Panettiere had used illegal drugs in recent days, but that "she was very good at hiding them." Brian Hickerson also showed police a "bag of medication" he said she had been taking, according to the police report.

The open question: where the drugs came from

The local ruling does not settle where the fentanyl came from. Investigators had been looking into whether Panettiere obtained illicit and possibly counterfeit pills from a dealer in Southern California. The Drug Enforcement Administration joined the inquiry. Variety reported that Brian Hickerson spoke with investigators about who may have sold her the drugs.

The DEA's investigation may not be over. The agency has not said whether it has closed its case. Greenville police spokesperson Sgt. Diana Munoz said she could not speak to whether any other agency is still looking into the death.

Fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills are a documented killer. Even tiny amounts can be fatal, and pills sold as ordinary prescriptions have repeatedly turned up contaminated.

Family response

After the coroner's findings, Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, called her daughter a "fighter" who was "transparent with her addictions and her numerous rehab attempts show her resolve to live a healthy life." Vogel also said she had "never heard Hayden speak of fentanyl."

That statement does not contradict the ruling. The ruling says the overdose was accidental, and it does not say how Panettiere came to have fentanyl in her system. That is the question the drug-sourcing inquiry was meant to address.

Her father, Skip Panettiere, announced her death in August, calling her "an incredible light and a force of nature."

A career in the middle of a comeback

Panettiere had been open about her struggles with addiction and mental health for years. Her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," came out in May. She also spoke publicly this year about the loss of her brother. Her latest film was released in January.

She earned two Golden Globe nominations for "Nashville," where she played a troubled country star and did her own singing. Earlier work included "Heroes" (2006-10), the "Scream" franchise and "Remember the Titans."

The local police case is done. Federal investigators have not said the same. If the DEA is still working the case, any charges would likely target whoever supplied the pills, not anyone tied to the ruling of accidental death. No charges have been filed against anyone in connection with her death.