THE UNTOLD TIMELINE: What Really Happened to Hayden Panettiere in Her Final Hours?

New details about Hayden Panettiere’s final hours have emerged following her sudden death at a South Carolina residence on Sunday.

The actress, known for her performances in Heroes, Nashville and the Scream franchise, was 36. She would have celebrated her 37th birthday on Friday.

Panettiere had traveled from Los Angeles to South Carolina with her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, on Saturday, according to a source who spoke with TMZ. One day later, an acquaintance called emergency services after finding her unresponsive at an apartment in Greenville.

Panettiere was pronounced dead approximately 40 minutes after the first emergency call, despite efforts by police officers and paramedics to save her.

Her death remains under investigation, but authorities said their initial findings did not reveal evidence of foul play or suspicious circumstances.

Emergency call reported an unresponsive woman

The first 911 call was placed at approximately 1:51 p.m. on Sunday.

The Greenville Police Department confirmed that officers and emergency medical personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive woman. Panettiere was identified after responders arrived at the residence.

“Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the department said.

Audio from the emergency response described Panettiere as being in cardiac arrest. A male voice was also heard referring to a suspected overdose.

However, an overdose has not been established as Panettiere’s official cause of death. The Greenville Police Department and the Greenville County Coroner’s Office are continuing to investigate.

“The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances,” police said, confirming that an acquaintance of the actress placed the emergency call.

Panettiere’s representative also said additional information was expected as the investigation progressed.

“There’s an investigation ongoing. We should know more tomorrow,” the representative told NBC News.

A source close to Panettiere told TMZ that she had complained about back pain during the year leading up to her death. No connection between that reported pain and her death has been confirmed.

Her history with Brian Hickerson

Panettiere’s journey to South Carolina with Hickerson drew additional attention because of the former couple’s history.

The pair began dating in 2018 and maintained an on-and-off relationship through 2022. During those years, Hickerson was arrested multiple times amid domestic-violence allegations.

In April 2021, Hickerson pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend and received a 45-day county jail sentence after punching Panettiere in the face.

Hickerson later admitted that he had abused her.

“I got arrested for, you know, abusing her, and I wouldn’t blame her friends for being pissed off at me,” he told TMZ while discussing the experiences Panettiere described in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.

Earlier this year, the two were seen together at an airport, prompting questions about whether they had resumed their romantic relationship. Hickerson said their connection had developed into a friendship and spoke of the respect he continued to have for Panettiere.

He also acknowledged that rebuilding their relationship as a couple would probably not be healthy.

“I think that Hayden is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met in my life, and I would be an idiot not to walk away from her and let her flourish in her career,” Hickerson said.

“So, we probably wouldn’t be good together.”

Although he said he still dreamed of marrying Panettiere, she dismissed that possibility when TMZ asked her about his comments at Los Angeles International Airport in May.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she responded.

Hickerson also expressed regret over what had happened during their relationship, saying he had been in a “dark place” involving drugs and alcohol.

Panettiere addressed the abuse in her own words

Panettiere discussed the relationship and its effect on her while promoting her memoir.

Speaking with Us Weekly, she said the experience was difficult to reconcile with how she had always viewed herself.

“It’s a very embarrassing subject,” she said. “I’ve always seen myself as such a resilient and strong woman.”

“The idea that I could allow something like this to happen to me blew my mind. It blew the minds of the people that knew me best.”

Her memoir, published in May 2026, also addressed her experiences with addiction, postpartum depression and the pressures of growing up in the public eye.

Panettiere’s decision to write about the abuse formed part of a wider account of the private struggles that accompanied her life and career.

Her final social media post and canceled appearance

Panettiere shared her final Instagram post on July 27. The photograph showed her smiling beside her friend, photographer Randall Slavin.

Earlier that month, she withdrew from a scheduled appearance at Creep I.E. Con in Ontario, California.

Convention officials announced that she had “an emergency” and could not attend the July 11 and 12 event. Her representative later told Page Six that the cancellation resulted from “a private family matter concerning the health of an elderly relative.”

The explanation did not indicate that Panettiere herself was experiencing a health emergency.

A hopeful final interview

Only months before her death, Panettiere spoke positively about moving beyond a difficult period in her life.

During a May interview with Jay Shetty, she said she finally believed she had left years of negativity behind her.

“I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity,” she said.

“I’ve closed one door and another door is opened … I can feel all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”

Those words now stand as one of Panettiere’s final public reflections on her future.

Her personal challenges included the death of her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who died in February 2023 at the age of 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition.

Panettiere is survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, whom she welcomed in 2014 with her former fiancé, heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Family asks for privacy

Panettiere’s father, Skip Panettiere, confirmed his daughter’s death in a statement and asked that the family be allowed privacy while processing the loss.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” he said.

“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.”

While further details about Panettiere’s final day have now become public, the exact cause of her death has not been determined.

The police department and coroner’s office continue to examine the circumstances surrounding her death, with authorities maintaining that the preliminary evidence has not pointed to foul play.