Glee actress’s body found in lake
Naya Rivera thought to have saved her son, 4, before drowning while pair were out on a boat, says sheriff’s office
NAYA Rivera’s body was found on Monday at a Southern California lake during the search for the Glee star, authorities said.
The body was discovered five days after 33-year-old Rivera disappeared on Lake Piru, where her son, 4, was found on July 8, alone, a few hours later on a boat the two had rented, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities had not immediately confirmed if the person found was Rivera, but said the day after she disappeared that they believed she drowned in the lake north-west of Los Angeles.
Search crews found the body floating in the north-east area of the lake and the county medical examiner was notified, authorities said. The lake, an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, was searched by dozens of divers working in waters with little visibility, with help above from helicopters, drones and all-terrain vehicles.
Rivera played singing cheerleader Santana Lopez for six seasons on the Fox musical-comedy Glee.
If she is declared dead, she will become the third major cast member from the show to die in their thirties.
Cory Monteith, one of the show’s leads, died at 31 in 2013 from a toxic mix of alcohol and heroin.
And co-star Mark Salling, who Rivera dated at one point, killed himself in 2018 at age 35 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
Rivera had experience boating on the lake in Los Padres National Forest, authorities said.
Surveillance video shows
Rivera and her son, Josey Hollis
Dorsey, leaving on the rented boat.
When the boat failed to return, its vendor found the vessel drifting in the northern end of the lake late afternoon a week ago with the boy asleep on board.
He told investigators that he and his mother had been swimming and he got back into the boat but she didn’t, according to a sheriff’s statement.
The boy was wearing a life vest, and another life jacket was found in the boat along with Rivera’s purse and identification.
Rivera is believed to have drowned “in what appears to be a tragic accident”, the statement said.
The boy, Rivera’s son from her marriage to actor Ryan Dorsey, was safe and healthy and with family members, authorities said.
The couple finalised their divorce in June 2018 after nearly four years of marriage.
The most recent tweet on Rivera’s account, from July 7, read “just the two of us” along with a photo of her and her son.
And Ventura County Sheriff,
Bill Ayub, believes she managed to “muster” enough energy to push her son out of the water but couldn’t save herself.
He said: “It would be speculation to say at this point. There are a lot of currents on the lake that appear particularly in the afternoon.
“We believe it was mid-afternoon when she disappeared, the idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting, it was unanchored, and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself.”
And Ayub says the Sheriff Office is “confident” the body found is that of Rivera’s, although formal identification has yet to take place.
He said: “Based on the location where the body was found, physical characteristics of the body, clothing found of the body and the physical condition of the body, as well as the absence of any other persons reported in the area, we are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera.”
Earlier in the day, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office confirmed their search teams had found a body in the lake after extensive searching.
They wrote: “A body has been found at Lake Piru this morning. The recovery is in progress.”
The area where Rivera was found was between 10m and 18m deep and the lake bed was covered with heavy shrubbery and trees.