By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-19 15:42:01 | Updated at 2026-08-19 16:10:06
32 minutes ago
Three months before she died, Hayden Panettiere was intent on setting the record straight.
In her memoir she gave a searing account of a childhood spent under the spotlight; an adolescence weighed down by the expectations of a pushy parent; and an adulthood spent dealing with addiction, failed relationships and personal breakdowns.
She wanted to explain it all, writing: 'I refuse to be defined by my tragedies.'
Her untimely death, however, leaves behind a long list of unanswered questions. For all her attempts to be open, Sunday's tragedy remains shrouded in mystery. Even her closest friends are left asking how, and why, she died in such terrible circumstances.
Why was Panettiere in South Carolina?
The 36-year-old actress is believed to have flown on Saturday from her Los Angeles home to Greenville – the hometown of her on-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, 37.
Hayden Panettiere is seen with her Nashville co-star Charles Esten in January 2017. Esten played a gig on Friday at a concert venue in the complex where she died two days later
He was registered as residing in LA with her, but some reports have suggested that he was actually living in Greenville, the same city where, in an Airbnb rental at the Judson Mill Loft apartment complex, her body was found on Sunday afternoon.
On Friday night Panettiere's co-star in the series Nashville, Charles Esten, was in Greenville to play a show at The Foundry at Judson Mill, a music venue at the complex.
Esten, 60, posted a video on Friday of him wandering Judson Mill, en route to a soundcheck at The Foundry.
Esten wrote on Facebook that he and his wife Patty did not see Panettiere, and described her being in the same area – the day after his visit – as a 'strange coincidence.'
'Alongside the horrific news of her passing, we have both been stunned to hear in news reports that Hayden had apparently arrived there at the same Judson Mills (the loft apartments, not the venue) the very next day,' he wrote.
'By then (Saturday) our tour bus had taken us through the night to Wilmington, where we were setting up for my next show, oblivious to all that was to come.
'Such a strange coincidence. I just wish that it had actually put us there together at the same time. And that we somehow could have bumped into her. And got to hug her, and laugh in amazement with her. And tell her how much we love her again.'
If she was a day late to see Esten's gig, was she there to see Hickerson's childhood friends, or perhaps his sister?
Ann Stewart Hickerson, 35, still lives in Greenville.
But his two brothers – Zach, 38, and 31-year-old Clark – and other sister, Ashley, 44, all live outside of South Carolina.
Neither of Hickerson's parents, who are divorced, still live in Greenville. His father Charles lives in Nashville, having married Halima in 2016; his mother Megan is now married to Bob Carpenter and they live 250 miles from Greenville on Pawley's Island, South Carolina.
Brian Hickerson (left) is seen with his older brother Zach (center), who lives in Nashville, and younger brother Clark, based in Raleigh. Zach and Brian were both in South Carolina with Panettiere when she died
Panettiere died in the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. She is believed to have flown there from her home in Los Angeles on Saturday
Which brother made the 911 call?
The Greenville police report confirms that Brian and his brother Zach were both at the Judson Mill Loft apartment with Panettiere when she died.
Zach, a devout Christian and golf fanatic, who works in health tech, found Panettiere in an armchair at around 1.30pm, while Brian was asleep in a bedroom.
It is not clear which of the two rang 911.
Zach was described by police as being 'very emotional' while the medics performed CPR on Panettiere. He told police that Panettiere was his brother's girlfriend.
Brian 'did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased,' the officer reported.
Why were there two ambulances?
Surveillance camera footage from the apartment complex shows two ambulances on the scene, which has puzzled online commentators: Does this mean that more than one person was reported as being in need of medical assistance? The audio of the 911 call suggests that only Panettiere was in need of care.
Both ambulances departed from the scene without putting anyone inside.
A coroner's van arrived later to transport Panettiere's body.
What was she taking?
The 911 dispatcher said that Panettiere was suffering from a suspected 'overdose,' shortly before 2pm on Sunday.
What was happening inside the apartment for a Sunday afternoon to unravel with such awful consequences?
Hickerson, who had been arrested multiple times for drunken cases of domestic violence against Panettiere, showed police in Greenville 'a bag of medication' that she was taking at the time of her death, according to the report.
It's not known what it contained. Toxicology reports might not be available for eight weeks.
Panettiere, who had her first acting role at the age of 11 months, was open about her struggles with alcohol and drugs.
Panettiere is pictured in 2010, supporting her then-boyfriend Wladimir Klitschko in his boxing match in Hamburg, Germany
In March this year, Panettiere was pictured at an airport walking with crutches: she said at the time that she was suffering from a pinched nerve in her back
Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Friday, was found unresponsive in an armchair around 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon
She was just 15 when someone on her team started giving her 'happy pills' to get through interviews and red carpet appearances.
'They were to make me peppy during interviews,' she told People in 2022. '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.'
After the extremely difficult birth of her daughter Kaya in December 2014, Panettiere suffered from post-partum depression and turned to alcohol.
Panettiere was also prescribed opioids after an 'old neck injury flared up,' she said several years later. The opioids became her crutch, and she said in 2023 that her 'tolerance got so high, so fast, that it became a problem.'
In 2018 she handed over custody of a then-three-year-old Kaya to the little girl's father, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
But the issues continued, and she spent eight months in rehab in 2020.
In 2023, her brother Jansen died at the age of 28. His cause of death was a heart condition, but Panettiere wrote in her memoir that he admitted to smoking crack and snorting heroin with a roommate in Los Angeles, once overdosing in their living room.
Panettiere wrote that she was horrified, knowing very well the dangers of addiction.
It's not known what drugs killed her, but the police confirmation that Narcan was beside her on the mattress suggests that the drugs were opioids. It's also unclear how she obtained them – when and from who.
In March this year, Panettiere was pictured at an airport walking with crutches: she said at the time that she was suffering from a pinched nerve in her back. Had that pushed her once more to painkillers?
When and why did she reconcile with Hickerson?
Panettiere and Hickerson had an extremely tempestuous relationship from the start, with both of their families believing the other was bad for their relative.
Lesley Vogel, Panettiere's mother, said on Tuesday: 'This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death and that was Brian Hickerson.'
The Hickerson family, meanwhile, told Us Weekly back in November 2019: 'Brian's family is extremely concerned for his safety when he is with Hayden. They are terrified that Brian will once again find himself accused of domestic violence. Hayden and Brian are very toxic for each other.'
Hickerson is seen in his Valentine's Day 2020 mugshot, taken by police following his arrest for attacking Panettiere in Jackson, Wyoming
Panettiere first began dating Hickerson in 2018, however their on-off relationship became tumultuous as he was arrested several times on domestic violence charges. Both families believed they were 'toxic' for each other
The couple met at a West Hollywood bar in the summer of 2018, and by 2019 she was accusing him of attacking her – punching and slapping her in a drunken rage, and leaving bruises and scratches over her body.
Police were called in May 2019, and again on Valentine's Day in 2020.
He was convicted of domestic violence and sentenced to 45 days in prison, serving 19.
She obtained a restraining order against him, writing on July 17, 2020 that she hoped others would be inspired by her to walk away from abusive partners.
But she returned to his arms, and by May 2022 they were having an explosive fight outside a Los Angeles hotel, with a disheveled-looking Hickerson being restrained while she yelled at him.
She was said to have walked away 'for good' in July 2022.
It's unclear when they rekindled their romance, but Zach Hickerson told police Panettiere was his brother's girlfriend.
Certainly she didn't tell her friends about it.
'If Brian was back in her life, then it was something she was hiding because she wasn't speaking about it with many of her friends,' one friend told Page Six.
'If you've gone through some dark times with people, and spoken about it, then there can be shame if you get back together with that same person. So maybe that was why she hadn't mentioned it to us.'
He is yet to comment on her death.
