The DEA Has Joined the Investigation Into Hayden Panettiere’s Death. What We Know So Far

The Drug Enforcement Administration, a federal agency, has joined the investigation into the August 16 death of actress Hayden Panettiere, a source familiar with the matter told The New York Times on Wednesday. As previously reported, Panettiere died at 36 years old in a Greenville, South Carolina apartment where she had been staying temporarily on Sunday. Audio of the 911 call included paramedics discussing an overdose and a cardiac arrest. EMTs attempted “advanced cardiac life support” to revive Panettiere, but were unable to resuscitate her. Though the Greenville Police Department has previously said there were no signs of foul play in Panettiere’s death, the DEA, which enforces U.S. drug laws, will join the investigation. The agency has previously been a part of investigations into celebrity deaths, such as the overdose death of Friends actor Matthew Perry, and resulted in five convictions, as TMZ noted. The celebrity news website is also reporting that Narcan, a medication used to reverse overdoses, was found at the site of her death.The DEA did not respond to the New York Times’ request for further information, and only told TMZ, “The DEA does not confirm or comment on active investigations.” What else do we know about the investigation? Panettiere’s boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was with the actress when she died according to a police report released earlier this week, as the Times reported. Panettiere and Hickerson had been dating intermittently since 2018, per People. When officers arrived on the scene, Hickerson reportedly showed officials a bag of medications Panettiere had been taking. As of this writing, the Greenville Police Department and the coroner’s office are conducting parallel investigations into Panettiere’s death, per TMZ. What else do we know about Panettiere’s relationship with Brian Hickerson? A neighbor of Panettiere’s in West Hollywood told Inside Edition that she had called 911 at least six times to report disturbance