Sad fate feared for 'Glee' actress
TV star Naya presumed drowned after son, 4, found asleep, alone on lake boat
Former “Glee” star Naya Rivera is believed to have drowned after she went missing from a boat while out on a lake in Southern California with her 4-year-old son, authorities said on Thursday.
The 33-year-old actress rented the pontoon boat at around 1 p.m. Wednesday with her son, Josey Dorsey, at Lake Piru — a reservoir in the Los Padres National Forest that has been the site of many drownings, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.
When they did not return the boat by 4 p.m., the man who rented the craft to her went looking for them.
He found Josey sleeping in the boat, but the boy said his mom had gone swimming and never surfaced.
“He found Ms. Rivera’s son on the boat and Ms. Rivera was nowhere to be found,” Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Dyer said, noting that no foul play was suspected.
“I can’t stress enough that this seems like a tragic accident. Come out here for a great day and something bad happens.”
After a fruitless search on Wednesday, authorities continued scouring the waters on Thursday but said that Rivera was presumed dead and that the operation had turned into a recovery mission rather than a rescue.
“Multiple teams of professional searchand-rescue personnel are actively searching Lake Piru for any clues to the location of Naya Rivera,” the sheriff’s office said Thursday afternoon.
“With over 80 people involved in the search right now, we are using helicopters, boats, ATV vehicles and ground personnel to try to locate her.
“Our hearts and prayers go out [to] all of the family and friends of the Rivera family.”
Josey, Rivera’s son with ex-husband Ryan Dorsey, was with family and in “good health,” sheriff ’s spokesman Capt. Eric Burschow told reporters, adding, “The family is
going through a very traumatic time right now.”
Lake Piru, a 1,200-acre reservoir about 56 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, has seen numerous drownings over the years due to chilly temperatures that can overwhelm swimmers and strong winds that can tip small boats, the Los Angles Times reported.
Douglas West, the lake’s former parksand-recreation services manager, said he knew of about a dozen drownings during his 23 years on the job.
“The only thing I can emphasize is that if swimmers are around the water, they need to wear a personal flotation device whether they know how to swim or not,” West said. “That will save their lives.”
Authorities said Rivera had left her life jacket on the boat when she jumped into the lake.
“Josey was asleep on the boat wearing a life jacket, but Naya’s jacket was sitting on the seat,” the man who found the boy, who was not identified by name, told The Sun on Thursday.
“Josey didn’t seem upset. He is maybe a little too young to understand what was happening.
“I assume the boat drifted and she couldn’t swim back to it. Nobody knew she was a famous actress. She was in stealth mode,” he added.
Rivera was born in Valencia, Calif., about 20 miles from the lake.
She rose to prominence playing Santana Lopez, the mean girl in the popular Fox musical series from 2009 to 2015.
She married Dorsey, a fellow actor, in 2014, and they divorced in June 2018.
Rivera had tweeted a picture of herself with her son on Tuesday, with the words, “just the two of us.”
In her 2016 memoir, “Sorry Not Sorry,” she called Josey “my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him.”
Following news of her disappearance, many former “Glee” co-stars and other celebs shared their thoughts and prayers.
“Sick to my stomach,” tweeted actor Damian McGinty, who played Rory Flanagan on the show. “Please pray.”
Singer Demi Lovato — who appeared on “Glee” as Dani, a love interest for Rivera’s character — posted a photo of a candle in an Instagram story.
“Please pray for @nayarivera to be found safe and sound,” she wrote.
Actress Jackée Harry, who starred with a 4-year-old Rivera on the 1991-1992 CBS sitcom “The Royal Family” — Rivera’s first acting gig — shared a clip from that show on Twitter.
“We starred alongside one another in her first very television series, The Royal Family, and I’ve watched her career blossom every since,” Harry wrote. “Please God, don’t cut this life short.”