GREENVILLE, SC. (THECOUNT) — Hayden Panettiere, the “Heroes” and “Nashville” actress who died August 16 at age 36, died from the toxic effects of multiple drugs, including fentanyl, according to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, as the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly focuses on text messages between Panettiere and a suspected drug dealer.
Authorities have now identified the substances that contributed to Panettiere’s death, while investigators continue examining the circumstances surrounding the actress’s final days. The coroner’s office said her death was accidental and that there were no signs of trauma that contributed to her death.
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Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation say Panettiere and her alleged drug dealer exchanged numerous text messages over several years, including messages sent as recently as the week she died. The sources said that the messages contain extensive discussions about purchasing black-market pills and have become a central part of the investigation.
The DEA believes Panettiere died after taking an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl. Investigators are reportedly examining the medications she had with her when she traveled from Los Angeles to South Carolina the night before her death.
Panettiere’s boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, reportedly provided police with a bag of medication that belonged to the actress. The contents could help investigators determine whether additional pills were contaminated with fentanyl or other substances.
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office identified the substances involved in Panettiere’s death as fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. Officials said the cause of death was the toxic effects of the multiple drugs and classified the death as accidental.
Panettiere was found unresponsive at an apartment complex in South Carolina after authorities responded to a report of cardiac arrest. The Greenville Police Department said there were no signs of foul play during its initial response and investigation. The DEA has also been investigating the circumstances surrounding her death.
TMZ reported that Panettiere’s West Hollywood neighbors described seeing three people, two women and a man, visiting her residence individually over a period of years. According to the report, the visitors often carried small bags, which neighbors suspected contained drugs. The man reportedly appeared at the residence with a bag during the week Panettiere died.
The alleged drug dealer’s identity and whether any of the people described by neighbors have been formally identified as suspects have not been established in the supplied reporting. The text messages and other evidence could help investigators reconstruct the source of the pills, but no criminal charges against a dealer are identified in the material provided.
Investigators have previously relied on text messages and phone records in overdose cases involving celebrities. In the death of musician Mac Miller, authorities used evidence concerning the distribution of counterfeit pills, and a drug dealer was ultimately sentenced to prison. The circumstances of Miller’s case do not establish what charges, if any, could result from the Panettiere investigation.
Former DEA special agent Bill Bodner, who investigated the overdose deaths of Michael Jackson and Matthew Perry among others, told NBC News that investigators would likely examine Panettiere’s phone, text messages, calls and social media interactions to reconstruct her final days and identify where the drugs originated.
Hickerson was reportedly at the apartment complex when Panettiere died. His attorney previously stated that police found no signs of foul play and that the death remained under investigation. Hickerson pleaded no contest to a charge of injuring a spouse or girlfriend in 2019 and received four years of probation, according to court records. Panettiere sought a restraining order against him in 2020, and her mother later said the two were still seeing each other at the time of her death.
Panettiere discussed her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning.” She began acting as a child, later earning recognition for her roles as Claire Bennet on NBC’s “Heroes” and Juliette Barnes on ABC’s “Nashville,” for which she received two Golden Globe nominations.
Her death remains under investigation as authorities examine the reported communications, medication evidence and the potential source of the fentanyl involved. The toxicology findings and coroner’s determination establish the reported medical cause of death, while questions about the distribution of the drugs remain subject to the ongoing investigation.
Greenville, South Carolina, where Panettiere died, is located in the northwestern part of the state near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The city is the seat of Greenville County and part of the Upstate South Carolina region. The exact apartment location has not been established in the supplied reporting.
Google Maps: Greenville County, South Carolina (Approximate Location)
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