GREENVILLE, S.C. – Greenville police have ended their investigation into Hayden Panettiere’s death, closing the local inquiry more than two months after the actress was found unresponsive in an apartment where she was staying. The October 28 announcement leaves a separate question unresolved: whether federal authorities have finished examining the drugs involved.
Panettiere, known for Heroes and Nashville, died on August 16 at 36. Emergency responders attempted life-saving measures before she was pronounced dead, according to the police report described by national news outlets. Wednesday’s statement concerns the conclusion of the department’s investigation, rather than the discovery of a new cause of death.
The distinction separates two developments that occurred 36 days apart. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office issued its accidental-death finding on September 22. Police continued investigating afterward and have now announced their own closure, citing both the medical determination and their investigative findings.
The Greenville Police Department said, “Based on the Medical Examiner’s determination and the findings of the investigation, Hayden Panettiere’s death has been ruled accidental,” according to its statement reported by ABC News. The department added that it had “concluded its investigation.” That announcement does not identify the status of work by other agencies.
The September findings attributed her death to the toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. Those substances were identified in the coroner’s findings, not in a newly released toxicology result accompanying Wednesday’s police statement. The reported cause involved multiple substances rather than fentanyl alone.
The autopsy found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death. Police had also said their initial response and investigation did not reveal signs of foul play. Those findings had been public while the local investigation remained open; the new development is the department’s decision to conclude that inquiry.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had also been assisting with the investigation, ABC News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Its report described the federal inquiry as believed to be ongoing and potentially concerned with people who supplied drugs. That assessment came from sources, rather than a new public statement from the agency confirming its current status.
A report in The Hollywood Reporter said the DEA did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment Wednesday. It described the possibility of a separate federal examination as unresolved. The local police announcement therefore should not be read as confirmation that federal authorities have closed their work as well.
The DEA’s earlier involvement introduced a drug-supply question alongside the investigation into the death itself. NBC News reported that the agency typically examines the narcotics involved, how they were obtained and whether laws were broken in procuring them. Wednesday’s local closure does not answer those questions on the agency’s behalf.
A separate property proceeding offers a dated reference to federal involvement, but not a definitive update. The Hollywood Reporter described a September petition in which Panettiere’s former fiance, Wladimir Klitschko, said federal law enforcement agents investigating her death had taken some of her property. That account was presented in the petition, rather than as a fresh statement from investigators.
The same report said a California court granted Klitschko legal status in October to protect Panettiere’s property for their daughter. The reported purpose of that court action was property protection. The petition’s description of earlier federal activity does not establish whether an investigation remained active when Greenville police announced their closure.
After the coroner’s findings were released, Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, described her daughter as a “fighter,” NBC News reported. Vogel said her daughter’s numerous attempts at rehabilitation showed her resolve to live a healthy life. The statement placed her efforts toward recovery alongside the medical findings, rather than treating the findings as the whole account of her life.
Panettiere had spoken publicly about addiction and recovery before her death. Her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, was published in May. ABC News described its subjects as including postpartum depression, recovery, trauma, domestic abuse and loss. Those disclosures preceded the investigation and do not resolve the outstanding question about the status of federal law enforcement’s work.
Her career in Heroes and Nashville followed an early start as a child actor. Her film credits included Remember the Titans, Ice Princess and Bring It On: All or Nothing. The television and film roles established the public career that made her death a national story; the latest announcement concerns the narrower, local investigative process.
ABC News said it had sought comment from a representative for Panettiere’s family about Wednesday’s development. Its report did not include a new family response to the closure. Vogel’s remarks about her daughter’s efforts toward recovery followed the September coroner’s findings, not this week’s police decision.
Asked about investigations beyond Greenville’s own, police Sgt. Diana Munoz said she could not comment on whether other agencies were examining the case, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The local department has given its answer. The separate federal question remains unanswered by an agency confirmation in the cited reporting.
