Authorities investigating Hayden Panettiere’s death are examining whether a prescription pill obtained through an alleged Los Angeles drug supplier may have played a role in her fatal cardiac arrest.
Panettiere, 36, died Aug. 16 after being found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina.
According to ABC News, emergency responders attempted life-saving measures, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation has expanded beyond South Carolina.
ABC News reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration is assisting Greenville police while investigators examine what substances Panettiere may have taken and where they originated.
TMZ reported Monday that Panettiere allegedly had a longtime drug supplier in Los Angeles who provided black-market prescription medications, including oxycodone.
Investigators believe she took several substances during her flight from Los Angeles to South Carolina before potentially taking another pill the morning she died.
The key question is whether that final pill contained fentanyl. Authorities are reportedly working to trace its source, but the allegation has not been established as the official cause of death.
Panettiere was widely known for portraying Claire Bennet in Heroes and Juliette Barnes in Nashville. Before her death, she had publicly discussed substance-use struggles, including in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
A police report also identified her on and off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach as being at the residence. ABC News reported that Hickerson showed officers a bag containing medication Panettiere was taking.
Toxicology results are expected to determine what substances were present in Panettiere’s system. Until those findings are released, authorities have not officially established a cause or manner of death.
