Lesley Vogel told ABC News she wants people to think of how “outgoing” and “intelligent” her late daughter was
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NEED TO KNOW
- Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother Lesley Vogel is speaking out about how she wants her late daughter to be remembered after her sudden death at age 36 on Aug. 16
- “I want Hayden to be remembered for the talented, you know, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman she really was,” Vogel told ABC News
- Vogel’s interview is set to air in full on Good Morning America on Monday, Aug. 24
Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother Lesley Vogel has revealed how she wants her late daughter to be remembered after her sudden sudden death.
While speaking to ABC News in an interview set to air in full on Good Morning America on Monday, Aug. 24, Vogel, 70, shared, “I want Hayden to be remembered for the talented, you know, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman she really was.”
The Nashville star was found dead at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on the afternoon of Aug. 16. She was 36.
Vogel’s latest comments come after she told NBC News in a phone interview on Tuesday, Aug. 18, “I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.”
She added, “I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different. I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.”
“I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace,” Vogel told the outlet, referring to Panettiere’s younger brother, Jansen, who died unexpectedly at age 28 in 2023. Jansen died from aortic valve complications and an undiagnosed enlarged heart.
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Panettiere had spoken candidly about her complicated and ultimately estranged relationship with her mother in the months before her death, including in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was released in May 2026.
On Thursday, Aug. 20, Vogel addressed their estrangement in a statement to Entertainment Tonight, insisting their separation did not mean she stopped caring for her.
“Although my daughter and I were estranged, it was not for lack of care or love,” Vogel told ET. “It was due to the involvement of a toxic individual who I believe led to her death.”
Vogel did not identify the “toxic individual” by name in her statement to ET. However, days earlier, she publicly criticized Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, while discussing her daughter’s death.
“This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death,” Vogel told NBC News on Aug. 18. “And that was Brian Hickerson.”
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The Greenville County Coroner’s Office previously said in a statement that first responders and Emergency Medical Services had initiated “advanced cardiac life support” measures on Aug. 16. “However, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful,” and Panettiere was pronounced dead at the scene.
A spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department said that “the preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.” In a dispatch audio obtained by PEOPLE, officials were heard discussing an “overdose” and “cardiac arrest” around the time of Panettiere’s death. However, no official cause of death has been released.
On Aug. 17, a source told PEOPLE that Narcan, a treatment designed to rapidly reverse the effects of a life-threatening opioid emergency, was found at the scene. Panettiere had previously been open about her struggles with addiction.
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Her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach were with her at the time of her death, according to a police report obtained by PEOPLE. When first responders arrived, Brian showed police a “bag of medication” the late actress was taking, per the report.
Responding officer Matthew Bryan wrote in a report that Zach was “very emotional,” while Brian was not visibly emotional until Panettiere was declared dead. The officer noted that he spoke more “in depth” with Brian and stated that Zach referred to Panettiere as his brother’s “girlfriend.”
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Five days after Panettiere’s death, Zach spoke to TMZ and gave his account of what happened that day.
“There are a lot of assumptions, speculations and accusations currently swirling,” Zach told the outlet. “The truth will come out as the authorities complete and release additional details from the investigation. And that is important because the people who loved and adored Hayden deserve the truth.”
“At this time, I want to clarify my involvement in effort to keep the focus on the fact that we lost one of the most precious individuals on this earth and to allow those that cared about her to mourn without additional noise, chaos, and misinformation being created and propagated by the media as well as the public,” he continued.
Zach confirmed that the residence in Greenville, South Carolina, where Panettiere was found on Sunday, Aug. 16, was an Airbnb. He explained that after not hearing from Panettiere or Brian, he went to the residence and woke Brian up from a nap. Shortly after, the brothers found Panettiere unconscious.
“I immediately called 911, and Brian gave her Narcan. We then jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived,” he explained. “At that point we watched as they tried every measure possible to save her life.”
During her years-long relationship with Brian, he was arrested numerous times, on charges including domestic violence in 2019 and 2020. Panettiere later described that period of her life as “very dark and complicated,” as she was privately struggling with addiction to alcohol and opioids.
The 2019 case was dismissed months after he was charged with one count of felony domestic violence and pleaded not guilty. In 2021, Brian pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a partner, related to the 2020 arrest. Panettiere was granted a five-year protective order against him.
“Hayden’s death remains under investigation, and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” Sloan Ellis, an attorney for Brian, told TMZ in a statement on Aug. 20. “As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play. Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”
Coroner Mike Ellis of the Greenville County Coroner’s Office released a statement on Aug. 17, announcing that an autopsy had been completed and that “no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.”
According to the statement, the investigation of Panettiere’s death “remains active and ongoing.” On Aug. 20, a source told PEOPLE that the DEA joined the investigation into Panettiere’s death.
Panettiere’s representative confirmed the news of her death on Aug. 16, and shared a statement on behalf of her father, Alan “Skip.” “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” he said. “She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”
The coroner’s office confirmed to PEOPLE that Panettiere’s remains were released to her family on Aug. 18, and her body was transported to a mortuary that evening.
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