NEWSHayden Panettiere's Troubled Brother 'Was Popping Pills Like Gumballs' Prior To Untimely Death, Insider Reveals
Hayden Panettiere’s brother, Jansen Panettiere, 28, was found dead in this apartment on Sunday evening.
Local sources from Nyack, N.Y., revealed that he had been ‘'popping pills like gumballs” since he moved to the city.
The Walking Dead star had been abusing the prescription painkiller Oxycodone over multiple years.
Recently, neighbors have spotted Jansen coming home looking “wasted” and “shabbily dressed.” One source said, “He'd come out of a car at 4 a.m. wasted. He said he was just coming back from a shoot. He looked destroyed.”
A couple years back Jansen relocated to Nyack, a city close to where he and Hayden grew up.
“When he moved out of here; he disappeared. Then his father came and got his stuff out and said, 'I have to get him out of here.' Then he left for a year,” a local spilled.
The year the former child actor left the town, he was in rehab for his drug abuse.
“When he came back he looked OK in the beginning. He looked like a different person. He came back straightened up. Then he went downhill from there,” one source noticed about the artist.
"He was very nice guy, very friendly, he was an artist and an actor. Very friendly and generous; he would always offer me help,” the insider added.
On February 19, Jansen's body was found in his home by friends Benjamin Brown, Joe Fails and Lars Arianti — after the graffiti enthusiast missed pre-determined plans.
- Tragic Final Words: Hayden Panettiere's Dad Spoke To Son Jansen In The Hours Before His Suspected Drug Fueled Death
- Heartbroken Hayden Panettiere Insists Late Brother Is 'Right Here With Me' After His Tragic Death
- Death Details: Hayden Panettiere's Brother Jansen Was Found 'Unresponsive' In His Home, Friend Performed CPR
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Jansen was "unresponsive" when he was found, and his pals performed CPR, though they had no luck.
According to the police report, Fails called 911 while the other friends contacted Jansen and Hayden's father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere. When the EMT’s arrived at the scene the Even Stevens alum was pronounced dead.
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Orangetown Police Sgt. Peter Maher said the cause of death has yet to be determined.
A close contact said that sister “Hayden is just inconsolable. He was her best friend and her only brother. He was such a nice guy but he lived on the edge.”
The brother-sister duo was last seen on January 24 when Jansen posted a picture on Instagram of Hayden giving him a haircut.
Daily Mail spoke to an insider about Jansen's drug abuse.
