No cause or manner of death has been released. Authorities have not identified the acquaintance who made the emergency call or disclosed why Panettiere was at the apartment.
What was known about her final reported movements?
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that police had responded to an incident involving Panettiere on Sunday and that the investigation remained active.
The outlet also reported that she boarded a flight from Los Angeles on Saturday with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. Officials have not said whether that journey had any connection to the circumstances surrounding her death, and no suspicious activity has been announced.
The limited official information leaves several basic questions unanswered, including when Panettiere arrived in Greenville and who was with her before the 911 call. For now, police have offered one firm point: investigators have found nothing indicating a crime.
How did Hayden Panettiere become famous?
Born in Palisades, New York, Panettiere began appearing on camera before she was old enough to understand the concept of a production schedule. Her first commercial, for the Playskool Toy Train, came when she was 11 months old.
“My introduction to acting was actually at 11 months old,” she told Entertainment Tonight in 2023. “I didn’t have lines, I was just playing.”
By age 4, she had joined the daytime soap One Life to Live, where she played Sarah Roberts during the 1990s. She later appeared on Guiding Light and voiced Dot in Pixar’s 1998 film A Bug’s Life.
Her television work expanded in the early 2000s with roles in:
- Ally McBeal
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Malcolm in the Middle
Panettiere became widely known as Claire Bennet, the indestructible cheerleader in NBC’s Heroes. She later played country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville, a performance that brought her further acclaim and drew partly on themes of fame, addiction and mental health.
She also joined the Scream franchise as Kirby Reed in 2011’s Scream 4. More than a decade later, she returned to the role in Scream VI in 2023, giving the fan favorite a survival story that horror films do not always grant so generously.
Her final acting credit was the 2026 psychological thriller Sleepwalker, directed by Brandon Auman and co-starring Justin Chatwin and Beverly D’Angelo.
How have her co-stars responded?
Several actors who worked with Panettiere posted brief tributes after reports of her death emerged.
“I love you Hayden,” Scream 4 co-star David Arquette wrote on social media.
Melissa Barrera, who appeared with Panettiere in Scream VI, shared her own message on Instagram Stories: “Rest in peace sweet Hayden.”
Further statements from Panettiere’s family and representatives had not been released as authorities continued their work.
What had she said about addiction and her health?
Panettiere had spoken publicly about her experiences with opioid and alcohol addiction, as well as postpartum depression. In a 2022 interview with People, she described the severity of her alcohol dependence.
“I would have the shakes when I woke up and could only function with sipping alcohol,” she said.
She was hospitalized with jaundice and entered rehabilitation in 2020, remaining in treatment for eight months. Panettiere said a doctor had warned her: “If I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years.”
After leaving rehabilitation in 2021, she said she felt “more clear-headed than I’d ever been.” Authorities have not connected those earlier health problems to her death, and no such conclusion can be drawn without the coroner’s findings.
Panettiere is survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, whom she shared with retired heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko. The couple began dating in 2009, became engaged in 2013 and separated in 2018.
