Naya Rivera’s Family Search for Clues:
NAYA RIVERA’S LOVED ONES ARE LEFT WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS AFTER HER MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE FROM A BOAT ON A LAKE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
After the Glee alum goes missing during a boat trip, her loved ones hope for answers.
IT’S the worst news imaginable for a family to receive. On the evening of July 8, authorities at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in Southern California revealed they were searching for Glee actress Naya Rivera in Lake Piru after she disappeared in a possible drowning incident. Officials resumed their desperate attempts to find the 33-year-old the following morning, but weren’t optimistic — and by press time, she was presumed dead. “We hope for the best,” Deputy Chris Dyer said in a press conference, “[but] we prepare for the worst.”
Soon more shocking details began to emerge. On the afternoon of July 8, Naya had gone to the lake with Josey, her 4-year-old son with ex Ryan Dorsey, and rented a pontoon boat with a deck cover. About three hours after they left the dock, another boater discovered the pleasure craft adrift in the water — with Josey asleep on board and his mom nowhere to be found. The child told authorities that they’d gone swimming in the 160-foot-deep reservoir — known for deadly currents and cold temperatures — but that his mother had failed to return to the boat. Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Buschow later reported that Josey had been wearing a life vest, while an adult’s life preserver remained on board: “It looks like she wasn’t wearing a vest.”
HEARTBROKEN PALS
As authorities continued their investigation, celebrities began tweeting prayers and concerns for the star. “Please pray for Naya Rivera to be found safe and sound,” wrote Demi Lovato, Naya’s love interest on Glee, the Fox hit on which Naya played bad girl Santana Lopez from 2009 to 2015. More former costars shared desperate pleas: “We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back home to us,” posted Heather Morris. “Praying,” added Harry Shum Jr. (As of press time, Naya’s parents and two older siblings, Mychal and Nickayla, had yet to comment.)
Fans, meanwhile, began finding eerie clues and coincidences. One linked Naya’s July 8 Instagram post — featuring a photo of the star and Josey kissing, with the caption “just the two of us” — to lyrics in rapper Eminem’s chilling track “’97 Bonnie & Clyde,” about a mother being killed and thrown into a lake. “Yall something is def off and not right,” a follower commented. (Capt. Buschow said a preliminary investigation showed the accident involved no foul play.) Fans also expressed concerns over Naya’s mental health. On July 2, she cryptically tweeted, “tomorrow is never promised,” while back in March, she shared photos of herself submerged in the bath, with the haunting caption, “Gravity keeps pulling me under but the urge to breathe helps me stay afloat.” And Star can reveal that, according to court documents filed on March 26, Naya and Ryan had recently hashed out a custody agreement. The exes, who finalized their divorce in June 2018, had a tumultuous relationship, which included her 2017 arrest for domestic battery (the charges were later dismissed).
For now, those close to Naya are struggling to make sense of what happened. “She seemed OK when I last saw her,” a neighbor told Star. “She was always nice and said hello.” And her former publicist, Zack Teperman, told Star he’s still processing the events. “I’m in shock,” he said, adding, “I feel for her family and child.”