Hayden Panettiere: Finals weeks leading up to Heroes star’s tragic overdose death revealed in new report

WARNING: Distressing details

More details about the moments leading up to Hayden Panettiere’s death have emerged after a drug overdose claimed her life.

The Heroes actress died on August 16 after she was found unresponsive at a property in Greenville, South Carolina. She was just 36.

First responders rushed to the scene after receiving cardiac arrest reports, but Panettiere was pronounced dead shortly after at 2.32pm.

More than a month after the tragedy, Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed a cocktail of drugs caused Panettiere’s “accidental” death.

Now, a new report has revealed details about the morning leading up to her death and what officials found at the devastating scene.

Hours before the tragedy, Panettiere’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, said he saw the actress in the bathroom putting on makeup shortly after he woke up between 10 and 10.30am, according to the Greenville County Medical Examiner report obtained by Page Six.

He said the couple then “ate cereal together” before he went into the bedroom and “fell back asleep”.

Brian woke up hours later to a knock at the door from his brother, Zach Hickerson, who had arrived at the house for plans the trio had made to go out for lunch that afternoon.

According to the report, which had redacted the name, one of the brothers then went to wake up Panettiere and found her sitting cross-legged, “face down and unresponsive” on a rug in front of a couch.

Emergency services were called and CPR was performed after nasal Narcan, an emergency medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, was administered twice “without success.”

When authorities entered the residence they found Panetierre, whose skin had turned “deep purple”, in the same position the brothers described.

Pressed pills that tested positive for fentanyl were found alongside “a cut straw with residue” on a table next to Panettiere’s body.

A sunglasses case containing “a small clear plastic bag of a white powdery substance” was also found in a suitcase belonging to the actress.

According to the report, officials also discovered “multiple prescription bottles on the kitchen table and a small teal blue-colored lunchbox with glass vials [as well as] prefilled and empty syringes located in the refrigerator.”

The report also included details provided by her father, Skip Panettiere, who said his daughter “had recently been released” from a rehab facility in Malibu where she spent “two or three weeks” receiving treatment.

Panettiere’s heartbroken dad also said the actress had “struggled with addiction since her early 20s and (had) been in multiple rehab facilities since that time.”

A statement released more than a month after Panettiere’s lifeless body was found confirmed she died from an “accidental” drug overdose.

“The cause of death has been ruled as toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol and Quetiapine,” the statement from Greenville County Coroner’s Office, published by Variety read.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiod, 4-ANPP is used in the illegal manufacturing of fentanyl, Alprazolam is a prescription anxiety medication better known as Xanax, Methocarbamol is a prescription muscle relaxant, and Quetiapine is an anti-psychotic medication often used to treat bipolar and schizophrenia.

The coroner said there were “no signs of trauma”.

“The manner of death has been ruled (an) accident,” it read.

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