The Drug Enforcement Agency joined the probe into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere Wednesday, according to multiple media reports.
Sources told ABC News on Wednesday that the DEA is now assisting the Greenville City Police Department in South Carolina, which remains the lead investigative agency on the case. TMZ also reported that the DEA is assisting on parallel death investigations into Panettiere’s passing, as the Greenville police department and the coroner’s office are both currently investigating the matter.
Representatives for the DEA, Greenville police department and Panettiere did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
However, the update did come a day after the local authorities shared details from the scene, which occurred at a private residence in Greenville where she was pronounced dead.
Per the report, an officer responded to an EMS assist request for an unresponsive individual on Sunday. The officer arrived at the residence in question, noting that Panettiere had been with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson, as well as his brother, Zack, at the time of her passing.
The report noted that it was unknown if the actress had been using drugs or alcohol when she died. Though, the officer’s report said Brian had showed them a bag of medication she had been taking.
On Monday, the coroner’s office shared that Panettiere’s cause and manner of death “remain pending [amid] further investigation and the completion of additional studies.” However, per dispatch calls reviewed by People and TMZ, the event was called in by an Emergency Medical Service worker reporting an apparent overdose.
Panettiere, a veteran actress known for her work on “Heroes,” “Nashville,” the “Scream” franchise and “Remember the Titans,” was only 36. Her father, Skip Panettiere, shared word of her death Sunday night in a statement to media.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” he said at the time. “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.”
She is survived by her daughter Kaya, whom she shared with ex Wladimir Klitschko.
