Hayden Panettiere's death under investigation

Hayden Panettiere's death is under investigation but there were "no signs of foul play".

The Heroes actress has passed away at the age of 36 and the sad news was confirmed by her father Alan Panettiere in a statement which was released on Sunday (16.08.26) but he did not reveal the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. Now police in Greenville, South Carolina have revealed an "acquaintance" of the actress placed a 911 call and emergency services raced to the scene where they attempted to help Hayden but they were unable to save her.

A statement from the Greenville Police Department explained: "[Officers] accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female” at around 1:50 p.m. Sunday.

"Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

"The case is under investigation by the Greenville Police Department in conjunction with the Greenville County Coroner’s Office. The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. An acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call."

Hayden's representative Kasey Kitchen also confirmed officials are looking into what happened and more details will be revealed in due course.

Kitchen told NBC News: "There’s an investigation ongoing. We should know more tomorrow."

Hayden's passing was confirmed by her father Alan who hailed the actress as an "incredible light and a force of nature.

Alan said in his statement: "It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. "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."

Her father asked for privacy "as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss."

Hayden recently released her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she detailed her troubled personal life in which she struggled with domestic abuse, battles with alcoholism and stints in rehab, and a battle with undiagnosed postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter Kaya.

She previously told Us Weekly about the book: “I talk about traumatic moments and things that people don’t even know about. The abuse I went through at the hands of people that were supposed to be there to protect me.

"Admitting to all of the things that I did. I knew if I was going to do this, I wanted to be brutally, painfully honest.

"When I was honest about postpartum depression on Live With Kelly and Michael [in 2015], the repercussions were shocking. After that interview, I had no idea when I walked off that stage that I was going to get the call saying, ‘Neutrogena wants to fire you. They’re not OK with this.’ And you’re going, ‘Wait a second, of all the things, how can they judge me about something that is so human and so real?"