REPORT: DEA Probes Hayden Panettiere’s Death As Investigation Intensifies

Interesting death, drug enforcement administration, drug overdose, hayden panettiere, investigation admin August 20, 2026 0 Comments

REPORT: DEA Probes Hayden Panettiere’s Death As Investigation Intensifies

The Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly joined the investigation into the death of “Nashville” star Hayden Panettiere.

Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that the Greenville City Police Department in South Carolina is leading the investigation, and is being assisted by the DEA. The police released details Wednesday from the apartment where Panetierre was found unresponsive, and later pronounced dead, despite best efforts by attending EMS.

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Prior to her passing, Panettiere openly discussed her struggles with addiction, as well as the volatile relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. Both personal matters were discussed openly in her newly released memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning.”

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Hickerson and his brother were at the apartment and found her in cardiac arrest, prompting the 911 call for assistance. A heavily redacted police report indicates that Hickerson showed responding officers a bag of medications he claimed Panetierre was taking at the time of her death.

An autopsy has revealed no signs of trauma causing death, but results of a toxicology report remain pending, making it unclear if Panetierre died of an overdose. (RELATED: REPORT: Investigation Into Hayden Panettiere’s Death Takes Dramatic Turn)

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TMZ reported that the device used to dispense Narcan, used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, were found on a mattress at the scene. The outlet reported that first responders on the scene mentioned an “overdose” when reporting to dispatch.

Panettiere was 36 years old at the time of her death, and seemed to be in the midst of reigniting her Hollywood career. The investigation into her death remains ongoing.