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South Carolina police close Hayden Panettiere death investigation after coroner’s verdict

Police in South Carolina have closed their investigation into the death of actor Hayden Panettiere after a coroner found it to be an accident.

The decision was based on the medical examiner’s decision as well as the findings of the investigation, Greenville police said Wednesday in a statement.

Panettiere, who starred in the TV series “Heroes” and “Nashville,” was pronounced dead in a Greenville apartment on Aug. 16 at the age of 36 after paramedics found her unresponsive.

A coroner’s report obtained by The Associated Press last month said her death was the result of an accidental drug overdose, including fentanyl, and that she had been in rehab just weeks earlier. Her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach Hickerson were at home.

It is unclear whether federal authorities may still be investigating the case separately. In a petition to a California court last month, Panettiere’s ex-boyfriend, former boxer Wladimir Klitschko, said parts of her property were seized by federal law enforcement agents investigating her death and by an unnamed person who wanted to sell it.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment Wednesday, and Greenville police Sgt. Diana Munoz said she could not comment on whether other agencies were investigating.

A California court granted Klitschko legal standing this month to protect Panettiere’s estate for their 11-year-old daughter, who is the sole heir.

In “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” a memoir released in May, Panettiere admitted she was addicted to alcohol and had postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter in 2014. The daughter went to live with Klitschko full-time when she was 2.

Panettiere’s father told investigators that at the time of her death, she had plans to visit her daughter in Ukraine days later.

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