He also requested that her family be afforded privacy as they ‘take time to process this unimaginable loss’.
Police in Greenville, South Carolina, where the 36-year-old reportedly passed away, have since told press that officers ‘accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female’.
They added: “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.”
A spokesperson explained that the preliminary investigation has ‘not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances’.
“An acquaintance of Ms Panettiere placed the 911 call,” they concluded, adding that no further details were available for release at this time.
The cause and manner of death have not yet been officially provided.
Panettiere’s publicist, Kasey Kitchen, described the investigation as ‘ongoing’ in a statement, as per NBC.
“We should know more tomorrow,” they added.
The Heroes star – who began her career as a child actor – leaves behind her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, who lives full-time with Panettiere’s ex-husband, boxer Wladimir Klitschko, in Ukraine.
Panettiere previously discussed the decision to give up custody of her daughter after struggling with ‘years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse’ with podcast host Jay Shetty back in May.
“The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking,” she added.
The mother-of-one also touched upon the ‘misconception’ that she was ‘forced into treatment’ for substance abuse in the past, when, in fact, she had been ‘the one who sought it out’.
The TV star entered rehab in 2015 while filming the TV series Nashville, she told Women’s Health in 2023.
Panettiere told Shetty, however, she was ‘just trying to find my way back, my way out of the darkness’.
“By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me to and selfish of me to try to pull her out away from this life that that she had,” Panettiere continued.
Later in the episode, she spoke optimistically about the years ahead, claiming she’d ‘shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity’.
“I’ve closed one door and another door is opened,” Panettiere insisted. “I can feel all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”