Naya Rivera: Police say Glee actress ‘mustered enough energy’ to get son back on boat before she ‘disappeared’

Authorities said they did not suspect suicide or foul play in tragic boating death

Police release CCTV of Naya Rivera hiring boat

Authorities are “confident” that a body found in Lake Piru is that of missing actor Naya Rivera.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement on Monday during a news conference, five days after Rivera went missing at the California lake.

Officials had been searching for Rivera since 8 July, when she went missing after renting a pontoon boat with her four-year-old son.

There is no sign of foul play nor any indication that Rivera died by suicide, Sheriff Bill Ayub said during the news conference.

Rivera, 33, began her acting career at an early age and rose to global fame as cheerleader Santana Lopez in Glee, which ran on Fox from 2009 to 2015.

Rivera’s four-year-old son told investigators that his mother, whose body was found in a Southern California lake Monday, boosted him back on to the deck of their rented boat before he looked back and saw her disappearing under the water, authorities said.

“She must have mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a news conference.

The boy, Josey Hollis Dorsey, was found asleep and alone in a life vest on the drifting pontoon boat about three hours after they launched on Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles, setting off a five-day search that ended with the discovery of the body of the 33-year-old floating near the surface early Monday, authorities said.

The mother and son had gone swimming, which was permitted in that part of the lake, Ayub said. She was not wearing a life vest.

Authorities believe that Rivera drowned accidentally, and that her body was most likely trapped in the vegetation under the lake for several days before floating to the top, Ayub said.

Divers had already thoroughly searched the area where she was eventually found, but shrubbery that had grown wildly in the area, which was recently dry, must have kept her hidden in the murky water.

Family members chatted with Rivera via FaceTime when she was on the boat, and search crews watched those videos for clues to where she might have gone down, Ayub said.

“It has been an extremely difficult time for her family throughout this ordeal,” Ayub said “We share in their grief.”

RIvera is the third major cast member from the show to die in their 30s.

Additional reporting by agencies. Read The Independent’s live coverage below:

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Key Points

• Authorities are 'confident' body found in Lake Piru is that of Naya Rivera
• Police said actress 'mustered enough energy' to get her son back on the boat
• Glee actors urge fans to stop ‘judging’ co-stars who haven’t tweeted about Rivera’s disappearance

[13 July 2020 23:50 · Chris Riotta]

Outpouring of support for Naya Rivera's family after actress confirmed dead

[14 July 2020 00:00 · Chris Riotta]

This concludes today's live coverage from The Independent.