Greenville Police Department has confirmed that preliminary enquiries into the death of Hayden Panettiere have revealed no indication of foul play or suspicious circumstances.
The American star was discovered unresponsive inside an apartment block in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday afternoon. Emergency services attempted to save her life, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her father, Skip Panettiere, announced the news on Monday morning, describing his daughter as “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 appealed for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Hayden Panettiere died at the age of 36 | GETTY
Officers from the Greenville Police Department, along with paramedic crews, were dispatched at approximately 1:50pm on Sunday after receiving a report of an unresponsive woman at Judson Mill Lofts on Easley Bridge Road.
The emergency call was made by someone described by detectives as an “acquaintance” of the actress.
The department stated that it was conducting its investigation alongside the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, though no official cause of death has been released.
Ms Panettiere’s publicist, Kasey Kitchen, confirmed that an active investigation was under way. “There’s an investigation ongoing,” Ms Kitchen told NBC, adding: “We should know more tomorrow.”
Hayden Panettiere, known for roles in the Scream franchise and Heroes, died on Sunday night
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REUTERSThe police said no further information was available for public release at this stage.
Ms Panettiere had a daughter, Kaya, now 11, with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko, the retired Ukrainian heavyweight boxer.
The couple’s on-and-off relationship lasted from 2009 to 2018, with an engagement in 2013 that never led to marriage.
Earlier this year, the actress revealed that severe postpartum depression and struggles with addiction had prompted her to relinquish custody of Kaya to Mr Klitschko in 2018.
She had recently published a memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, which generated widespread attention for its candid revelations about her personal life and past relationships.
Reports in US media claim that Ms Panettiere had flown from Los Angeles to South Carolina with on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson the day before she died.
Ms Panettiere’s career began when she was a tot, with the actress appearing in television adverts from the age of just 11 months before securing her first acting role at four on the American soap opera One Life to Live.
Her big-screen debut came as the voice of Princess Dot in Pixar’s 1998 animated film A Bug’s Life, followed by a notable turn in the Denzel Washington sports drama Remember the Titans two years later.
It was her portrayal of cheerleader Claire Bennet in the superhero series Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010, that made her a household name.
She went on to play aspiring country music star Juliette Barnes across six seasons and 128 episodes of Nashville, a performance that earned her two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress.
Her other credits included Raising Helen, Bring It On: All Or Nothing, and appearances as Kirby Reed in both Scream 4 and Scream VI.