Hayden Panettiere's 'second mom' reveals behind-the-scenes heartache: 'She never stood a chance'

By SHAWN COHEN IN PIERMONT, NEW YORK Published: 06:06, 18 August 2026 | Updated: 06:21, 18 August 2026 Hayden Panettiere's heartbroken 'second mom' has revealed her devastation over the actress's sudden death at just 36 - and told how the troubled star 'tried and tried' to overcome the demons that plagued her adult life. The Heroes and Nashville star was found unresponsive at her home in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday afternoon after an acquaintance called 911 to report that she was in cardiac arrest. Panettiere was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts to save her.  Police said their preliminary investigation found 'no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances,' while a post-mortem examination found no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death. Her cause and manner of death have not yet been determined. Now Lynsey Lonberg, 73, a longtime family friend whom Panettiere described in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, as her 'second mother,' has spoken of her anguish at losing the little girl she watched grow into a Hollywood star. Sitting at the bar of a restaurant in Piermont, New York, on Monday afternoon, Lonberg remembered the animal-loving child who played at her home, the fiercely focused actress she became - and the painful struggles she believes ultimately overwhelmed her. 'She referred to me in her book as her second mother,' Lonberg told the Daily Mail. 'She was like a child to me.'   Lynsey Lonberg, 73, whom Hayden Panettiere described in her memoir as her ‘second mother,’ has recalled watching the actress grow from an animal-loving child into a Hollywood star Lonberg shared this childhood photograph of Jansen Panettiere (right) on his obit page following his death in 2023, simply captioning the 1999 snap: 'Little Friends.' She had been like a 'second mom' to Panettiere Lonberg, still living in Rockland, knew Hayden since she was a toddler and has kept in touch with her over the years, remaining close with Hayden’s father, Alan 'Skip' Panettiere. After the news broke Sunday night, she called Hayden’s father and left a message offering her condolences. 'I can’t imagine losing a child, but for him to lose both of his children, I can’t imagine how difficult that must be for a parent. It’s just so devastating. ‘He’s a strong man. But how do you pull through this? I don’t know how.' She said Hayden and her brother Jansen, who died in 2023 at age 28, were close friends with her own children growing up. That bond appears to have stretched back decades. After Jansen's death in 2023, Lonberg shared a childhood photograph from 1999 showing Jansen in Palisades, New York. 'Little Friends,' she captioned the touching throwback. Hayden would regularly stop by to visit her children and her animals. Hayden Panettiere was found unresponsive at her Greenville, South Carolina, home on Sunday and pronounced dead at the scene aged just 36 Hayden Panettiere is pictured with her younger brother Jansen, who died suddenly in 2023 aged just 28. The siblings are seen when they were children Lonberg recalled how Hayden used to come and play with her animals at the home 'We grew up with a lot of animals in our house, miniature horses, chickens, turkeys, donkeys.’ Lynsey recalled. ‘Hayden used to come down here and play with them. She loved them so much. Once we had a baby chicken who died, and she became hysterical. 'She’s always been very emotional,’ she added. Lynsey was struggling to understand Hayden’s death.  She said she was aware of Hayden’s struggles in her adult life, including with the birth of her daughter in 2014. ’When she had her child, she had a very difficult delivery, and really hard postpartum,’ she said. 'Not a week of being depressed. It went on for a very long time. 'It took her a long time to get herself back together,’ Lynsey continued. 'I think working organized things for her. She was a hard worker, focused.’ Hayden had also told her about challenges she faced with drugs. 'She tried and tried and tried to get past her struggles,’ she said, ‘but she was an actress. She told me that when you go working on a set, all kinds of pills, liquor, all kinds of things are available where you can get anything you want. 'This kid didn’t have a chance,’ she said. 'I don’t think she would have gone down the road she went down if it hadn’t been for Hollywood.' Panettiere's daughter went to live with the father in Ukraine. Hayden Panettiere and her brother Jansen are pictured together in 2011  Hayden Panettiere is seen alongside her parents and brother in 2001 'She did the best she could for her daughter,’ she said. 'It was impossible for her keep up what she was doing as an actress and trying to take care of her daughter. ‘She was trying to overcome the problems she had with drugs.’ Hayden would continue to visit her father, who lives with his second wife in Piermont. They live just a few doors down from the restaurant where she was sitting, Sidewalk Bistro. 'She comes to visit her father, and she comes in here because it’s safe,’ she said. ‘She was a celebrity, but most people here would leave her alone here. She’s always felt comfortable.'