Hayden Panettiere’s mother is speaking publicly about the legacy she hopes her daughter leaves behind after the actress’s death at 36.
“I want Hayden to be remembered for the talented, you know, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman she really was,” Lesley Vogel told ABC News.
Panettiere, widely recognized for her work in “Heroes,” “Nashville” and “Ice Princess,” died on Aug. 16 after being found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a home in Greenville, South Carolina. Emergency crews tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her death came just months after Panettiere had addressed her complicated relationship with her mother, who worked as her acting coach when she was a child.
During a May interview with ABC News, Panettiere described the effort to maintain a relationship with Vogel as “tough.”
“Over the years, I’ve tried to leave that door open, hoping that the relationship would evolve into a healthy mother-daughter relationship, and it’s obvious that that’s just not going to be the case,” she said at the time.
Vogel later responded to her daughter’s remarks in a statement to Page Six, saying she had decided to take “the no-contact route” after following “the advice of professionals.”
The Greenville City Police Department is handling the investigation into Hayden Panettiere’s death, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to sources familiar with the matter.
According to a police report obtained by ABC News, Panettiere was with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother, Zach Hickerson, at the time of her death. The report said it was unknown whether Panettiere had been using drugs or alcohol.
Panettiere’s official cause and manner of death “remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies,” the coroner’s office said.
Copyright © 2026 ABC News Internet Ventures.
