Hayden Panettiere, 36, Found Unresponsive Before Her Passing — New Details Emerge from Official Investigation

Hayden Panettiere was reportedly found unconscious at a South Carolina residence before emergency crews attempted to revive her, according to officials.

The Greenville County Coroner's Office has released new details about Hayden Panettiere's death, as a close friend revealed what the 36-year-old actress had been planning in the months before she died.

What Officials Say Happened After the 911 Call

First responders and emergency medical services were called to a residence in Greenville on Sunday, August 16, 2026, according to the coroner's office, as reported by ABC News. Officials said responders found Hayden unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.

Crews initiated advanced cardiac life support measures, but efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. Hayden was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m., the coroner's office said. An autopsy was completed the following day as officials continued investigating the circumstances of her death.

According to the outlet, the coroner's office said the examination found no signs of trauma that would have contributed to Hayden's death.

The autopsy has not yet established her official cause or manner of death. Both remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies, officials said.

A Former Co-Star Remembered Their Time Together

Actor Matt Lanter also shared a personal memory of working with Hayden after news of her death.

"So sad to hear of Hayden's passing," Matt wrote on Instagram. He recalled that Hayden played his girlfriend on "Commander in Chief" before he later played her boyfriend during the first season of "Heroes."

"We always had a great time on set and tons of laughs," he wrote, adding, "Man, just too young."

Hayden Panettiere Had Talked About Seeing Her Daughter Again

Hayden had reportedly been considering a trip to Ukraine to visit her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, who was born in Hawaii on December 9, 2014. Kaya has lived there with her father, Hayden's former fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko, since 2018.

Erick Orellana, Hayden's hairstylist and friend of three years, told Page Six that he last saw Hayden a few months earlier.

"She was talking about how she wanted to take a vacation, and that she wanted to go and see her daughter. Her daughter was always her absolute priority. She loved her so much," Erick said. He said Hayden often showed him photos of Kaya and shared stories about her.

Hayden Pushed Back Against Claims That She 'Gave Up' Her Daughter

During a May 2026 appearance on the "On Purpose Podcast" with Jay Shetty, Hayden directly challenged, "The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be okay with it is heartbreaking," she said, adding that it "couldn't be further from the truth."

The star explained that she had struggled with mental health issues, anxiety, postpartum difficulties, alcoholism, and substance abuse, and said she had personally sought treatment when she realized she needed help.

She said that when Kaya was about two to two-and-a-half years old, her father, Wladimir Klitschko, decided it would be best for their daughter to live in Ukraine. Hayden divulged that she initially reacted like a "mother lion" and would have "burnt the world down" for her child. She said losing the ability to have Kaya with her "all day every day" brought an almost impossible combination of emotions.

But the actress also described eventually looking at the life Kaya already had in Europe from her daughter's point of view. Because Hayden had been working and Wladimir was preparing for fights and managing his own business commitments, Kaya had spent years traveling between the U.S. and Europe.

Sometimes her parents traveled with her, while at other times she traveled with a nanny. In Europe, Hayden said, Kaya already had family, friends, and extracurricular activities. She had also become familiar with the languages around her.

So when Hayden became healthier, she said she was faced with an extraordinarily difficult realization: bringing Kaya back simply because she could might have served her own wishes more than her daughter's.

"I felt like it would have been unfair of me to, and selfish of me to try to pull her out" of the life she had built, Hayden explained. She described Kaya as happy and thriving, saying her daughter spoke five languages, namely, English, Russian, Ukrainian and German and the beginning stages of French, and rode horses. More importantly, Hayden believed Kaya knew that both of her parents loved her.

"I have an incredible relationship with her," the late star noted further, explaining that she traveled to see Kaya whenever possible and spent a great deal of time talking to her on FaceTime. She also insisted Kaya "in no way feels abandoned," saying they discussed deep subjects and shared an "intense, incredible" bond.

The Unexpected Nickname Kaya Started Calling Her Mom

Another May 2026 interview offered a much lighter glimpse of that relationship. While speaking with Gayle King on "CBS Mornings," Hayden said Kaya had begun "calling mommy more and more." But recently, her daughter had surprised her during a FaceTime call.

"She goes, 'Hey Brittany,'" Hayden recalled. It took her a moment to understand that Kaya was referring to Brittany Allen, Hayden's character in "Bring It On: All or Nothing."

Kaya's friends had apparently become fans of "Bring It On," too, and Hayden said her daughter was even asking her to Zoom with them. "I'm cool now," she joked. The playful nickname painted a strikingly different picture from one Hayden had shared several years earlier.

Years Earlier, Kaya Asked Other Women If She Could Call Them 'Mommy'

During a September 2022 "Red Table Talk" interview, Hayden recalled Wladimir telling her that Kaya had been asking other women whether she could call them "mommy." "My breath hitched, and my heart stopped," Hayden shared.

The actress claimed Wladimir laughed because he thought the situation was funny, but she found it "horrifying." To her, Kaya's behavior seemed like "a trauma reaction" and "a cry for help," so she immediately asked to speak with her daughter.

Hayden said that when she questioned Kaya about it, the child suddenly began speaking in what she described as "goo-goo gaga" gibberish — something Hayden said she had never heard her do before.

The actress believed the reaction showed Kaya was struggling with having her mother away and said she feared the separation could affect her emotionally later in life.

Hayden Later Said She Was 'Guilt Ridden'

By May 2026, Hayden was speaking even more candidly about what she felt during that period. At a panel connected to her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," she described the crushing guilt of knowing she was not in a position to parent Kaya the way she wanted to.

The actress admitted she had felt "guilt ridden" over being "completely incapable" of parenting her now-11-year-old daughter at the time, according to Page Six's report on her emotional recollection.

She also remembered a remark that particularly hurt. "The worst thing that somebody said to me is that it was a personal choice that I was making," Hayden said. Her response made clear just how impossible that characterization felt to her.

"Who would choose to feel like this? Like, how could you even say that to me?" she asked. Hayden described Kaya as a healthy, beautiful child who represented "everything to celebrate," making her inability to function as the mother she wanted to be even more painful.

"And I'm completely incapable of doing it," she said. "I felt so guilt ridden [sic] that I was incapable of doing it." Another moment seared itself into her memory: While walking through an airport, Hayden spotted a magazine cover featuring her face and a headline asking why she had given up her daughter.

"You might as well have taken a knife and stabbed me in the heart," she recalled. Hayden insisted anyone who truly knew her would know she would have done "absolutely anything" for Kaya. But she argued that loving a child can sometimes mean accepting a decision that does not make the parent feel better.

"Sometimes that means not what you want as a mom or what's going to make you feel good as a parent, but what's best for them," she said. Even the actual custody signing remains a painful memory.

Hayden shared that her father was present, while several other people unexpectedly arrived to witness her signing the paperwork. She recalled sitting in a restaurant and clenching her teeth so tightly so she would not begin sobbing.

Then, she heard people laughing and chuckling nearby. "I can't believe you can watch somebody who's obviously doing one of the most painful things in the world," she remembered thinking.

Afterward, Hayden said she went into the restaurant bathroom and locked herself inside as she confronted "the reality of the situation." Her memoir revisits experiences from that deeply difficult period of her life. But Kaya's story did not stop with the custody papers. Amid her beautiful life in Europe, Kaya has developed an affinity for horses.

In fact, according to her mom's past words, she has become obsessed with horses. Hayden believed that particular passion may run in the family. "I have horseback riding in my genetics," she said, noting that her great-uncle once won the Kentucky Derby. She also shared one particularly funny glimpse into Kaya's enthusiasm.

Hayden received a video of her daughter watching "Racing Stripes," a movie she apparently loves to replay. Kaya was sitting on a toy hippo and pretending to race it with such enthusiasm that Hayden joked she feared the toy's ears were going to be ripped off.

The young girl is also a strong swimmer and loves the water — another quality Hayden had recognized in herself. "She's just like me," the actress previously said. Hayden recalled spending plenty of time in her pool while pregnant with Kaya and working on "Nashville." "And she came out just loving water," Hayden said.

By 2026, Hayden revealed that Kaya was not merely interested in horses but actually rides them. Yet the detail that perhaps surprised listeners most was how highly Hayden spoke of her daughter's emotional development.

Hayden Had Shared That Her Daughter Is 'Happy,' 'Solid' and Knows She Is Loved

At 11, Kaya has been living what her mother called an "incredible life." "She's an incredible little girl," Hayden had shared with Jay. The actress also spoke about the support system surrounding her. More importantly, she believed her daughter knew she had two parents who love her.

Hayden said she was confident in her heart that Kaya felt supported and insisted that their physical separation had not destroyed their relationship. "I have an incredible relationship with her," the mom said. Hayden would travel to see Kaya as much as possible and spent significant amounts of time talking to her through FaceTime.

Their conversations were apparently not limited to quick check-ins. "We talk about really deep things," Hayden revealed.

For Hayden, parenting Kaya from another continent also meant trying to lead through example. Her daughter, she noted, was born to two very public and powerful parents pursuing dramatically different careers on separate continents, and Kaya apparently enjoyed watching both of them succeed. "She's our biggest fan," Hayden revealed further.

The actress believed seeing what her parents accomplish may help Kaya believe she can accomplish whatever she sets her own mind to. And Hayden saw something even more important in the way Kaya carries herself.

She described her daughter as "good" and "solid" and said Kaya's ability to love herself offers powerful reassurance that she feels loved. Watching an 11-year-old already show an ability to love both herself and other people, Hayden said, is more than a parent could ask for.

Because of the relationship she had with Kaya, and because of the way events ultimately unfolded, Hayden said she had reached a place of being capable of feeling profound gratitude alongside the pain. Kaya, she stressed, has "an incredible father" and "an incredible family."

The situation was still not the version of motherhood Hayden once hoped to experience. Yet she said she felt lucky that Kaya is safe, well-rounded, and was deeply connected to her. That bond was once one of her greatest fears.

When Kaya went away, Hayden worried she might have had to fight extremely hard to maintain any relationship with her daughter. Instead, she later said the outcome became "in a lot of ways" a blessing.

That does not mean she did not ache for more. "I always want her here," Hayden said. "I always miss her." "But that's just not the way life is right at this moment," she acknowledged.