DEA Joins Investigation Into Hayden Panettiere’s Death at 36

The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined the investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, according to ABC News.

The DEA is working with the Greenville Police Department and the local coroner’s office in South Carolina, TMZ reported. Panettiere died Sunday night at the age of 36. Authorities have not yet announced an official cause of death.

The investigation comes after Panettiere spoke publicly about her long struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. In her 2026 memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” the actress described her experiences with addiction and the challenges she faced throughout her life.

News of her death has led to an outpouring of tributes from friends, former co-stars and other Hollywood figures.

Jack Coleman, who played Panettiere’s father on the hit television series “Heroes,” shared an emotional tribute on Instagram on Wednesday. Coleman said he had loved Panettiere since they first met during the filming of the show’s pilot nearly 20 years ago.

“I’m heartbroken,” Coleman wrote. He recalled how Panettiere introduced herself by shouting “daddy” and running toward him with her arms outstretched. He said she later called him “daddio” and affectionately referred to her as “Haydini,” describing her as a magician.

Christy Carlson Romano also remembered Panettiere in an essay for Elle. Romano, who became a star as a child through “Even Stevens” and “Kim Possible,” reflected on the lasting effects of growing up in the entertainment industry.

Romano compared the experience of childhood fame to the idea of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head injuries. She stressed that she was not describing childhood fame as a medical diagnosis, but as a way to understand the repeated emotional and psychological pressures young performers can face.

“The former child actor exists in a category the world does not know how to hold,” Romano wrote, arguing that young performers can be treated as children when the public wants to protect them, but as professionals when the industry benefits from their work.

Panettiere’s death has renewed attention on her career, her personal struggles and the pressures faced by people who become famous at a young age. As authorities continue their investigation, her official cause of death remains pending.