Greenville Police End Overdose Probe

Greenville police closed their investigation into the death of actor Hayden Panettiere on Wednesday. The decision followed a medical examiner's determination that her death on August 16 was an accidental overdose.

Police Sgt. Diana Munoz confirmed the closure in a statement, noting that the ruling was based on both the coroner's findings and the results of the department's inquiry. Panettiere was 36 years old when paramedics found her unresponsive in a Greenville apartment.

A coroner's report released last month identified several drugs, including fentanyl, as the cause of the accidental overdose. The document noted that Panettiere had been in a rehabilitation program just weeks before her death. At the time of the incident, her on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were present in the home.

While the local investigation is concluded, federal involvement remains a point of contention. Wladimir Klitschko, Panettiere's ex-fiancé, filed a petition with a California court last month. He stated that federal law enforcement agents had taken some of her property while investigating the death. Klitschko also alleged that an unnamed non-relative attempted to sell other assets.

The Drug Enforcement Administration did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. Sgt. Munoz said she could not clarify whether other agencies are currently examining the case. In the same month, a California court granted Klitschko legal status to manage Panettiere's property on behalf of their 11-year-old daughter, who is her sole heir.

Panettiere wrote about her alcohol addiction and postpartum depression in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published in May. Her daughter was born in 2014 and moved to live with Klitschko full-time when she was two years old. Panettiere's father told investigators that his daughter had plans to visit her child in Ukraine a few days after her death.

The local police department has now officially completed its review of the circumstances surrounding the August 16 incident. No further arrests were announced as part of the closure.