According to reporting based on a redacted police incident report, Brian’s brother, Zach Hickerson, was present during the emergency response.
Responding Officer Matthew Bryan reportedly described Zach as “very emotional” while paramedics attempted to save Panettiere.
Brian’s reaction was described differently. According to the report, the officer did not observe him becoming visibly emotional until after Panettiere was pronounced dead.
Those observations describe what the responding officer reported seeing and do not, by themselves, establish anything about the circumstances of Panettiere’s death.
The report nevertheless provides a more detailed picture of the scene than was available immediately after news of her passing emerged.
A Bag of Hayden’s Medication Was Given to Police
Another notable detail involved medication Panettiere had reportedly been taking.
According to the police report, Hickerson showed responding officers a “bag of medication” connected to the actress.
The existence of medication at the residence is likely to be considered as part of the broader investigation, but there has been no official determination that medication caused or contributed to Panettiere’s death.
That distinction is particularly important because emergency dispatch communications reportedly included references to both an “overdose” and “cardiac arrest.”
Those terms reflected information being communicated to first responders during an unfolding emergency. They were not an official cause-of-death finding.
The Emergency Call Came Shortly Before 2 P.M.
At approximately 1:51 p.m. on Sunday, August 16, emergency services received a call reporting an unresponsive woman in cardiac arrest.
First responders arrived at the Greenville residence and began attempting to revive Panettiere.
Emergency personnel performed chest compressions and advanced cardiac life support measures, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Panettiere was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m.
Images from outside the property showed emergency vehicles gathered around the complex as authorities remained at the scene.
One resident recalled seeing two men sitting with police afterward.
Police reportedly remained at the property for several hours.
The resident said the arrival of the coroner’s vehicle made it apparent that the emergency had become fatal.
Only later did the resident learn that the person who died was Panettiere.
What the Dispatch Audio Revealed
Emergency dispatch audio subsequently provided another piece of the timeline.
The patient was initially described as an “unidentified female” experiencing “cardiac arrest.”
Additional communications reportedly referenced CPR being performed in connection with a possible “overdose.”
That reference generated immediate speculation online, particularly because Panettiere had previously spoken publicly about addiction and recovery.
However, an emergency responder being told that an overdose may have occurred does not establish that an overdose was ultimately responsible for the person’s death.
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office completed an autopsy following Panettiere’s death. Authorities said there were no initial indications of trauma contributing to her death, while further findings remained pending.
Police also said their preliminary investigation had revealed no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.
Hayden’s Father Broke His Silence
As questions surrounding her final hours intensified, Panettiere’s father, Skip Panettiere, issued an emotional statement confirming the family’s devastating loss.
He remembered his daughter not simply as a Hollywood star but as someone whose personality affected those closest to her.
The family requested privacy while processing the loss.
Hayden Had Been Looking Back at Her Life in 2026
Panettiere’s death came during a year in which she had spoken with unusual candor about the experiences behind her decades-long Hollywood career.
In May, she released her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, examining childhood fame, addiction, motherhood, relationships, recovery and the death of her younger brother, Jansen.
During an NPR interview shortly before the book’s release, Panettiere reflected on beginning her career before she could even understand what fame meant.
She began modeling as a baby and was appearing in commercials before her first birthday.
Yet behind her extraordinary professional success was a childhood she later described as divided between two worlds.
Panettiere wanted ordinary experiences — friends her own age, school and sports — while simultaneously working in an adult entertainment industry.
As she grew older, acting itself became emotionally more complicated.
She was known from childhood for her ability to cry on cue, but Panettiere explained that accessing increasingly painful emotions for performances became harder as her own life grew more difficult.
That became particularly significant during Nashville.
Her character, Juliette Barnes, experienced storylines involving postpartum depression, substance abuse and difficult family relationships — subjects that increasingly overlapped with Panettiere’s real life.
She Wanted Her Experiences to Help Others
Despite the difficult subjects she revisited, Panettiere also described finding meaning in sharing them.
At a May event connected to her memoir, she recalled hearing from people who said her openness about mental health had encouraged them to seek help.
For Panettiere, those encounters made the vulnerability worthwhile.
Her reflections on motherhood were equally personal.
Panettiere shared daughter Kaya with former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. Kaya primarily lived with her father in Europe, an arrangement Panettiere repeatedly said had been misunderstood publicly.
She maintained that putting her daughter’s needs first sometimes meant accepting circumstances that were personally painful.
She hoped Kaya would eventually understand the full story.
Hayden’s Final Months Focused on Healing
Only weeks before her death, Panettiere described herself as continuing to work through the complicated experiences that had shaped her.
She added:
Her words were consistent with much of what she had discussed throughout 2026. Rather than presenting recovery as something she had completed, Panettiere described it as an ongoing process.
In one of her final messages directed toward other mothers facing difficult circumstances, she offered encouragement:
Her Final Instagram Post Became a Place for Tributes
Panettiere’s final Instagram post was published on July 27.
The black-and-white photograph showed her smiling beside photographer and director Randall Slavin.
After news of her death broke, the post transformed into an online memorial.
Selma Blair left several emotional messages beneath the photograph.
Slavin also reposted the image to his Instagram Story with a brief farewell:
Other friends, colleagues and entertainment-industry organizations joined the tributes.
SAG-AFTRA, noting that Panettiere had been a union member since childhood, remembered the actress’ decades of work.
Questions About Her Final Hours Remain
The newly surfaced police details have expanded the public understanding of Panettiere’s final day.
She had traveled from Los Angeles to South Carolina with Brian Hickerson. His brother Zach was also at the residence. Emergency personnel responded after Panettiere was found unresponsive. Brian reportedly provided officers with medication she had been taking, and dispatch communications referenced a possible overdose while responders attempted CPR.
But none of those individual details establishes how Panettiere died.
Authorities have said there were no preliminary signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances, and an official determination of her cause of death depends on the coroner’s findings.
For now, the police report provides additional pieces of a timeline that remains incomplete.
And behind the questions surrounding those final hours is the loss of an actress whose life had unfolded publicly almost from infancy — and who, during the months immediately before her death, had finally begun telling her story in her own words.