Hayden Panettiere died on Sunday, August 16, and details have emerged about her passing. It has been reported that her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was at her apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, at the time of her death. Brian’s brother, Zach Hickerson, is the person who called the police after he found the “Nashville” actress unresponsive. Brian reportedly was asleep in another room.
On Wednesday, August 19, TMZ reported that two officers from the Greenville Police Department were seen at Hickerson’s family home. “Two uniformed officers were photographed Wednesday morning at the Hickerson home. One knocked on the front door while another walked up their driveway,” TMZ reports. At the time, the outlet didn’t know why the police visited, but the reason has since been revealed.
Hayden Panettiere’s BF’s Family Home Visited by Police
Why were the police at Hickerson’s family home? “Two cars with the Greenville Police Department arrived at the property belonging to Betty Ellison on Wednesday at 8:20 a.m.,” Page Six reported on Wednesday, August 19. Zach was home at the time, and the officers left after around three minutes, the publication reports.
“They returned about an hour and a half later and went around the back to ‘conduct a welfare check,’” Page Six reports. During this visit, they spent about 10 minutes at the house. It is unclear who they spoke to.
Panettiere’s neighbor, Judson Mill Lofts, told Page Six that he had not known the “Guiding Light” actress was at her home prior to her death. “I don’t know that she was there long, and I’m not sure she even ever left the apartment,” he said. “I can only speak for myself, but you know, I never saw her, [and] I haven’t spoken to anyone else that said they have.”
He added, “The apartment complex has sent out a couple messages saying it wasn’t anything criminal and that there’s no reason for anyone to be scared or anything like that.”
Hayden Panettiere’s Relationship With Brian Hickerson
Panettiere’s tumultuous relationship with Hickerson has become a topic of much discussion after her death at age 36. Hickerson was arrested in 2020 for allegedly assaulting the actress, and her friends reportedly did not want them together.
A source close to Panettiere told Page Six that she had kept them in the dark about being with Hickerson. “If Brian was back in her life, then it was something she was hiding because she wasn’t speaking about it with many of her friends,” the source said. “If you’ve gone through some dark times with people, and spoken about it, then there can be shame if you get back together with that same person. So maybe that was why she hadn’t mentioned it to us.”
Neighbor Mia Terrazas also shared her thoughts on Hickerson in an interview with TMZ. She told the outlet that warning posters with Hickerson’s face had previously been posted in the neighborhood. The posters urged those living in the area to “call 911 immediately” if they saw Hickerson on their property. TMZ reports that the “warning poster with his photo went up after a string of complaints about his alleged behavior.” The homeowner association took it down a week later, in August 2025.
