Hayden Panettiere, the actress known for "Heroes" and "Nashville," was found unresponsive and pronounced dead Sunday afternoon in a Greenville, South Carolina, apartment, and a neighbor says the scene that unfolded left residents shaken.
An acquaintance placed a 911 call at 1:51 p.m. Sunday after finding Panettiere unresponsive inside a unit at Judson Mill Lofts, a residential complex in Greenville. Paramedics responded to a report of an "unidentified female" in cardiac arrest, attempted CPR and advanced cardiac life support, and were unable to revive her. She was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m., just 41 minutes after the call.
The Greenville Police Department said the preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. But the official cause of death has not been released, and the case remains under investigation by Greenville police and the Greenville County Coroner's Office. Dispatch audio obtained from the 911 call referenced an apparent "overdose," according to reporting from the New York Post. An autopsy found no signs of trauma.
Panettiere was 36 years old, five days short of her 37th birthday.
A tenant at Judson Mill Lofts spoke exclusively to Page Six about what unfolded Sunday. The neighbor said police arrived at the complex around noon and remained on scene until roughly 8 p.m., an eight-hour presence that drew attention across the property.
The tenant described seeing two unidentified men sitting outside the apartment with police. Then the coroner's vehicle pulled up.
The neighbor told Page Six:
"The coroner vehicle showed up and, of course, I knew then that there was a death."
It wasn't until the following morning that the neighbor learned the deceased was Panettiere. The reaction was disbelief.
"I was shocked, as I'm sure everyone in Greenville was, to find out she was here."
The neighbor added that Panettiere had apparently kept a low profile during her stay at the complex, which Page Six confirmed was an Airbnb rental. No one the neighbor spoke to had seen her there.
"I don't know that she was there long, and I'm not sure she even ever left the apartment."
Property management sent messages to residents reassuring them the incident was not criminal and that there was no reason for concern. But the neighbor said the weight of what happened still hung over the building.
"It's still kind of jarring to hear that someone of her stature was here and then that tragically happened to her."
TMZ reported that Panettiere and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson flew into South Carolina from Los Angeles just one day before her death. TMZ also cited an unnamed source saying Panettiere had recently been suffering from back pain. It remains unclear whether Hickerson was present in the apartment at the time she was found unresponsive, and Greenville police have not publicly identified the acquaintance who placed the 911 call.
The loss comes amid a string of unexpected deaths in the entertainment world. Lauren Bennett, the voice behind "Party Rock Anthem," also died at 36 earlier this year, another reminder of how fragile life can be even for those in the public eye.
A Greenville police spokesperson provided a statement to NBC News confirming the basic facts of the response:
"Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene."
The spokesperson continued: "The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. An acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call."
Panettiere built a career that began in childhood and stretched across two decades. She was best known for playing cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC series "Heroes" and country singer Juliette Barnes on "Nashville." Both roles made her a household name.
But behind the screen, she battled postpartum depression, substance abuse, and trauma, struggles she discussed publicly in recent years. The Washington Examiner noted that Panettiere had addressed her addiction and mental health challenges in a memoir released just months before her death.
In that memoir, titled "This Is Me," Panettiere reflected on a life lived almost entirely under public scrutiny. AP News quoted a passage from the book: "One thing I know from my 36 years in the public eye is this: Life is a process that evolves day by day, year by year."
She also described how substance use entered her life early. In one account, she recalled being given pills before interviews as a young performer.
"They were to make me peppy during interviews. I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction."
Her younger brother Jansen preceded her in death in 2023. Panettiere told People magazine she would "never be able to get over" that loss. The compounding grief, addiction, and public pressure formed a backdrop that many who followed her career understood, even if the full picture remained private.
Among the tributes that followed Sunday's news, musician and friend Clayton Johnson shared what he said was Panettiere's final text message to him. Fox News reported Johnson's emotional remembrance:
"It's been a couple of weeks since our last phone call, but the last thing you ever texted me was, Honestly, people think it's a joke to ask for world peace, but that would be me."
Johnson said he spent the night after her death trying to find the right words. "There really aren't any," he wrote.
Greenville authorities have not released an official cause of death. The 911 dispatch audio's reference to an apparent overdose and the paramedics' response to a cardiac arrest call raise questions, but no official has confirmed a connection between the two. An autopsy has been conducted, and results from toxicology testing, standard in cases like this, have not been made public.
The identities of the two men the neighbor observed outside the apartment with police remain unknown. Whether one of them was Hickerson, or the acquaintance who dialed 911, has not been addressed by investigators.
Panettiere's father, Skip Panettiere, confirmed his daughter's death in a statement provided to Page Six. The entertainment world has seen a number of unexpected losses in recent months, and each one has underscored how little the public often knows about what happens behind closed doors.
"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her, and to the millions who watched her onscreen."
He added: "We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss."
Panettiere's death also drew attention to the broader toll that addiction and mental health crises take on young people in the public eye. Other young public figures have died after sharing their struggles openly with audiences of millions, raising hard questions about whether fame itself compounds the very problems it sometimes helps illuminate.
For now, a 36-year-old woman who spent most of her life on camera is gone. The coroner's report will eventually fill in the clinical details. But for the neighbor at Judson Mill Lofts who watched the police cars gather and the coroner's van arrive on a quiet Sunday, the facts already told the story before anyone said a name.
Hayden Panettiere asked the world for help more than once. The question worth asking now is whether anyone around her was in a position to give it.
