Hayden Panettiere Autopsy Complete, Toxicology Results Weeks Away, Ex Wladimir Klitschko Speaks Out

Actress Hayden Panettiere, 36, died Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest at an Airbnb rental in the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, following a suspected overdose. An autopsy was completed Monday, a preliminary report found no signs of trauma contributing to her death, and the Greenville County Coroner’s Office says full toxicology results could take eight to 12 weeks. Her cause and manner of death remain officially pending.

What do authorities know so far?

According to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, Panettiere was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest Sunday afternoon; a 911 call obtained by Page Six referenced an “overdose” and noted CPR was already underway. Paramedics attempted advanced cardiac life support and chest compressions, but she was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m. The Greenville City Police Department is also investigating, though officials say there are no signs of foul play. Her body is ready for release pending the family’s choice of funeral home, and investigators are specifically trying to determine what drugs or alcohol were in her system at the time of death.

What had Panettiere said publicly about her struggles?

Panettiere had long been open about addiction to opioids and alcohol that began in her teens, and about postpartum depression after the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya. She detailed this in her memoir “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” published just three months before her death, and told People in 2022 that the substances had “become something she almost couldn’t live without.” Friends and colleagues have offered mixed pictures of her state in her final months: she told CBS Mornings’ Gayle King she was in a “good place” while promoting the book, though King said afterward she seemed “clearly still struggling.” Her “Sleepwalker” co-star Justin Chatwin has said she seemed lonely and different on set in 2025. She was also reportedly dealing with “really severe” back pain before she died. She had previously lost her younger brother, Jansen, in 2023 at age 28 to a heart condition.

What has her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko said?

Former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, who was engaged to Panettiere from 2013 and is the father of Kaya, called her death a “profound shock” and “tragic” in a statement posted to social media Tuesday. He said their family was in grief, that Panettiere remained “an important part” of his life despite no longer being his partner, and that he would always speak of her to their daughter “with respect.” Panettiere had given Klitschko full primary custody of Kaya in 2018, saying at the time she recognized she was in a bad place and wanted to shield her daughter from a public custody battle given both parents’ fame. She told Fox News Digital in July that she and Klitschko had promised each other never to say a bad word about the other to their child.

How has the entertainment industry responded?

Ethan Suplee, who co-starred with Panettiere in “Remember the Titans,” wrote a Substack essay recalling his own heroin use on the night of that film’s 2000 premiere, saying Panettiere’s hugs on the red carpet had brought him unexpected relief that night. He also named two other young actors, Christopher Pettiet and Harold Pruett, who died young, and said he didn’t know what any of them were “going through at the end.” Separately, coverage noted Panettiere’s reflections from last September on her friendship with “Ice Princess” co-star Michelle Trachtenberg, who died in February 2025 of complications from diabetes after her own struggles with addiction; “Ice Princess” director Tim Fywell issued a statement mourning both actresses.

What role did her family relationships play in coverage?

Panettiere’s estrangement from her mother and former manager, Lesley Vogel, has drawn attention following her memoir’s account of a childhood in which praise and affection were tightly intertwined with her mother’s management of her career. Panettiere told Us Weekly in May the two were “not in contact,” though she left open the possibility of reconciliation. She began modeling at 8 months old, booked her first commercial at 11 months, and had her first recurring TV role at age 4 on “One Life to Live,” before later starring as Claire Bennet in NBC’s “Heroes” and as Juliette Barnes in ABC/CMT’s “Nashville.”

What happens next?

The central unanswered question is what, if anything, toxicology testing will show about drugs or alcohol in her system; results are expected within roughly two to three months. Until then, the coroner’s office says her cause and manner of death remain officially pending further investigation and additional studies.

Sources

• New York Post — Hayden Panettiere’s body ready to be released as coroner reveals timeline for toxicology results · ‘Remember the Titans’ star recalls smoking heroin on night of premiere in Hayden Panettiere tribute · Hayden Panettiere reflected on Michelle Trachtenberg friendship months before death
• CBS News — Hayden Panettiere was found in cardiac arrest with no signs of foul play · Hayden Panettiere’s ex-fiancé in "profound shock" after her death
• Fox News — Hayden Panettiere and the child stars whose relationships with their momagers turned complicated · Wladimir Klitschko mourns former fiancée Hayden Panettiere, vows to keep her memory alive for daughter Kaya

Featured photo: Tabercil via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)