Police rolled up to a South Carolina property tied to Hayden Panettiere's boyfriend and his brother Wednesday morning.
Two cruisers from the Greenville City Police Department showed up at the four-bedroom residence around 8:30 a.m. for a welfare check, according to reports. The $800,000 property is connected to Brian Hickerson, Panettiere's volatile on-again, off-again partner, and his older brother Zachary. Both men were reportedly inside the Airbnb where the 36-year-old "Heroes" star was discovered unresponsive on Sunday.
Two female officers banged on the front door repeatedly. Nobody answered. They circled around back where every curtain was pulled shut, then left empty-handed. But here's the kicker. They came back roughly 90 minutes later and again checked the backyard before departing. Officers refused to identify who the welfare check was targeting.
Zachary, 38, had been spotted at the residence a day prior but completely stonewalled a reporter. "No comment, bro," he said, insisting the media respect his privacy. Brian, 37, has been a total ghost since Panettiere passed away. Not a single public sighting.
The timeline of her final hours is haunting. Panettiere reportedly flew from Los Angeles to Greenville with Brian just one day before her death. She was temporarily staying at an Airbnb inside the Judson Mill Lofts complex. Around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Zachary discovered her slumped in a living room chair, completely unresponsive, while Brian was sleeping in a bedroom. Both brothers dialed 911 after failing to wake her.
Paramedics worked on Panettiere for close to an hour before officially declaring her dead. An incident summary noted that Zachary was "very emotional" throughout the resuscitation effort, while Brian reportedly only became "visibly emotional" after she was pronounced gone. Brian also reportedly handed investigators a "bag of medication" that she had been taking. Emergency dispatch audio characterized the situation as a suspected overdose, and Narcan was found on a mattress inside.
No official cause of death has been established yet. A preliminary coroner's report confirmed no signs of trauma, and police said their initial investigation revealed nothing suggesting foul play.
The relationship between Panettiere and Brian stretches back to 2018 and was plagued by domestic violence allegations. He was arrested multiple times. In 2020, prosecutors hit him with four felony domestic assault counts, two felony counts involving a deadly weapon, witness intimidation, and a misdemeanor battery charge. He eventually pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend, got 45 days in jail, and served just 13 behind bars.
In her memoir, Panettiere called the relationship a "very dark and complicated time." She alleged Brian once beat her so severely that she hid inside her home for weeks. She also sought a restraining order in 2020. Despite all of that, they rekindled things and were photographed together as recently as March.
Adding another jaw-dropping layer, a judge denied Brian's petition to expunge his domestic abuse convictions on August 13, just three days before Panettiere died. And reports from 2019 revealed Panettiere was also romantically linked to Zachary while Brian faced charges, with the two spotted looking like "a real couple" in Manhattan's SoHo.
Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, did not hold back. "This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death," she said. Former fiance Wladimir Klitschko, the father of Panettiere's daughter Kaya, called her passing deeply saddening and vowed to ensure their daughter remembers who her mother truly was.
Brian Hickerson has said absolutely nothing publicly. The investigation continues.
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