Officials released new details Monday on the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, whose sudden passing at the age of 36 sent shockwaves across the country.
Police in Greenville, South Carolina, said in a statement that officers “accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female” at around 1:50 p.m. Sunday, NBC News reported.
“Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the statement said.
In its latest update, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office said it was called for a report of a “cardiac arrest.”
“First responders and Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and located a female in cardiac arrest. EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 PM,” the coroner’s office said in a statement.
The woman was later identified as Panettiere, who had been temporarily staying at the home where was found.
According to the medical examiner’s office, an autopsy conducted Monday showed “no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to her death.”
The cause and manner of death were not yet determined, with officials saying they are “pending further
investigation and the completion of additional studies.”
An investigation into her death remains ongoing, the medical examiner’s office said.
Police said a preliminary investigation did not show “signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.” They noted they were called to the scene by an acquaintance of Panettiere.
Panettiere would have turned 37 on Friday.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” Panettiere’s father Skip said in a statement provided by the actor’s representative. “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. We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Panettiere began her career as a child actor in commercials and soap operas.
Her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in “Heroes” propelled her to fame in 2006, with the series revolving around the mantra “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”
She went on to win three Teen Choice Awards for that role and was a Grammy Award nominee for a children’s spoken word album recorded a few years after the release of the animated movie “A Bug’s Life.”
Earlier this year, Panettiere spoke about her struggles with alcohol addiction and depression, including after the birth of her daughter with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. Panettiere also recently published a memoir, “This is Me: A Reckoning,” which generated headlines over its revelations, including about her past relationships.
In an interview with podcaster Jay Shetty after her memoir came out in May, Panettiere talked about the custody arrangement for her 11-year-old daughter, who lives full-time with Klitschko in Ukraine. News of the 2018 decision prompted headlines about Panettiere giving up custody of her daughter.
“I think there’s been this very common misconception that I just gave up my child,” she said. “That could not be farther from the truth.”
Panettiere said Klitschko suggested their daughter live with him full-time when the child was 2, as Panettiere struggled with mental health challenges and addiction. She said she was in a “horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse” while “just trying to find my way back, my way out of the darkness.”
She entered rehab in 2015, while filming “Nashville,” telling Shetty in in her tearful interview she was experiencing postpartum depression.
“That’s why I turned to substances — because the anxiety that I started having, the panic attacks that I started having,” she said. “I had this beautiful plan in my head, and then I had my daughter and I knew something was just terribly, terribly wrong. I was miserable. I was in tears all the time. Even though the alcohol helped my nervous system calm down, it is a depressant, so over time it made things worse, not better.”
“Nashville” co-star Britt Shaw posted a tribute to Panettiere on Instagram, saying the two “had so many good times together.”
“This is a shock,” Shaw’s post said. “Man, she was great. She had this way of making you feel at home. From the moment I walked onto the Nashville set, she made me feel like I belonged.”
Actress Viola Davis, who starred alongside Panettiere in the 2016 film “Custody,” also posted about Panettiere.
The screen actors’ union SAG-AFTRA released a statement, calling Panettiere’s death “sudden.”
“We join in mourning the sudden passing of Hayden Panettiere,” the screen actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which counted her as a member since 1994, said in a statement. “Our hearts are with her daughter, family, friends and fans.”
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