New details have emerged about the final days of actress Hayden Panettiere, revealing that authorities were called to her West Hollywood home for a welfare check just one week before she was later found unresponsive in South Carolina.
According to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department call report obtained by Us Weekly, deputies received a request around 10 p.m. on August 9 after someone became concerned that a woman at the residence was not answering her phone.
The heavily redacted report does not identify the woman by name, but a source familiar with the situation told Us Weekly that the call involved Panettiere.
The report described a caller who was concerned because the woman was not responding to phone calls. When officers arrived, they were reportedly told that she had been sick throughout the day and was not feeling well.
The newly revealed welfare check adds another piece to the timeline surrounding Panettiere’s final weeks.
The actress, best known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, had been staying in South Carolina when emergency responders were called on August 16. She was 36.
According to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, first responders arrived at an apartment in Greenville at approximately 1:51 p.m. after receiving a report of cardiac arrest.
Panettiere was found unresponsive inside the residence, and emergency personnel began advanced life-support measures. She was pronounced at the scene at 2:32 p.m.
Her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother, Zach, were at the apartment and were involved in the 911 call, according to a police report obtained by CBS News.
Investigators initially reported no obvious signs of trauma, and the subsequent autopsy also found no trauma that contributed to her condition.
The coroner later determined that Panettiere’s cause of death was the toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. The manner was classified as an accident.
However, officials have emphasized that the investigation itself has not simply disappeared following the coroner’s findings.
Panettiere’s publicist, Kasey Kitchen, previously said that the circumstances surrounding the case were complex and that the investigation remained ongoing.
That distinction is important.
The coroner’s ruling establishes the medical cause and manner, while investigators can still examine the surrounding circumstances, including the people who were with Panettiere during her final days and the events leading up to the emergency call.
The August 9 Welfare Check
The newly reported welfare check happened exactly one week before Panettiere was found unresponsive in Greenville.
According to the call report, someone contacted authorities because the woman at the West Hollywood residence was not answering calls.
When deputies arrived, they were reportedly informed that she had been feeling ill.
A source told Us Weekly that Hickerson answered the door.
Another source also claimed that Panettiere had been hospitalized during the week before her passing and later told a friend who visited her that Hickerson had taken her phone. That claim has not been independently established by the publicly released sheriff’s report.
The distinction between what appears in the official report and what comes from unnamed sources is important as investigators continue reviewing the circumstances.
Previous Police Calls At Her Los Angeles Home
The August 9 welfare check was not the first time law enforcement had reportedly been called to Panettiere’s Los Angeles-area residence.
According to the same records obtained by Us Weekly, police responded to the apartment complex twice in 2025 over concerns involving an unidentified man.
One call occurred in August 2025 after a man was reportedly seen on an upper floor of the building attempting to enter a unit. By the time officers arrived, he had reportedly left the immediate area.
Another incident was reported in September 2025 involving an unidentified man who was allegedly in the building’s garage and refusing to leave.
The available records do not establish that either incident was connected to Panettiere’s later circumstances.
They do, however, provide additional background about why questions surrounding her safety and well-being have drawn attention.
Her Relationship With Brian Hickerson
Hickerson has remained an important part of the timeline because he and Panettiere had a complicated relationship over several years.
The two had previously separated, and Panettiere had publicly discussed difficult experiences involving the relationship.
More recently, reports indicated that the pair had reconnected.
Page Six reported that Panettiere had secretly entered a treatment facility in Malibu several weeks before her final days. Her father, Skip Panettiere, also reportedly told investigators that she had spent two or three weeks in treatment.
The actress had previously spoken publicly about her struggles with substance use and recovery.
That history has made the latest investigation particularly sensitive, because the new welfare-check information places another documented interaction with authorities into the timeline shortly before the August 16 emergency call.
Still, investigators have not publicly accused Hickerson of causing Panettiere’s condition, and the coroner’s ruling classified the manner as an accident.
What Investigators Are Still Looking At
The Greenville Police Department has said its investigation remains active.
That means authorities can continue reviewing evidence and following leads even after the coroner has established the medical cause and manner.
A police report obtained by CBS News said Hickerson showed officers a bag of medication that Panettiere was taking at the time. Some information in the report was redacted.
The report also indicated that Zach Hickerson told investigators that Narcan had been administered after Panettiere was found unresponsive.
Authorities have also been examining surveillance footage and the movements of people at the apartment.
At this stage, there is no official finding that the August 9 welfare check itself was directly connected to what happened one week later.
Instead, it is another piece of information that investigators and the public now have as they try to understand Panettiere’s final days.
A New Detail In A Timeline That Continues To Develop
The newly revealed welfare check changes little about the official medical finding, but it adds important context to the timeline.
On August 9, someone was concerned enough to ask law enforcement to check on Panettiere because she was not responding.
One week later, emergency responders were called to a South Carolina residence where she was found unresponsive.
In between those two events were reports of illness, a recent period of treatment, renewed contact with Hickerson and other circumstances that remain under review.
Panettiere’s career had already taken her through some extraordinary highs and difficult personal periods. She became a familiar face to television audiences through Heroes and later Nashville, while also speaking openly about recovery and personal challenges.
She is survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, whom she shared with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
For now, the newly surfaced welfare-check report provides another glimpse into the days leading up to the August 16 emergency call, but it does not by itself answer every question surrounding the case.
Authorities have classified the manner as accidental, while the police investigation remains active.
As more records become available, the focus will likely remain on the timeline, the people around Panettiere during her final weeks and what investigators can establish about the circumstances that preceded the emergency.
For those who followed Panettiere’s career, the latest development is another reminder that the story of her final days is still being pieced together — one report, one record and one unanswered question at a time.