Glee star Naya Rivera presumed dead after going missing at Southern Californian lake
9 July 2020, 06:56
Glee actress Naya Rivera is presumed dead after going missing at a lake in Southern California, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said.
It said efforts to find the actress are now a "search and recovery operation"
A search operation was launched after her four-year-old son was reportedly found floating alone, asleep, on a rented boat at Lake Piru.
Her son Josey is now safe in the care of family members.
The search was called off overnight but will resume "at first light" on Thursday, the sheriff's department said.
The sheriff's department said it was searching for a "possible drowning victim."
She is understood to have rented the boat at about 1pm local time.
The alarm was raised later raised, and a search operation launched using helicopters, drones and dive teams, police said.
Captain Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, said: "They were seen going out on the lake together in the early afternoon, and approximately three hours after they left the dock another boater out on the lake discovered the boat drifting with the [son] on board asleep.
"So they contacted the rangers and began an investigation and we've been actively searching for the mother since that time. We have both aerial search going on and our dive team as well.
"Indications are that we believe she did go in the lake. At this point it's still a search and that's what we know up to this point.
"We're going on the belief that she did go in the water, and we've not been able to locate her. This may well be a case of drowning.
"This is a big reservoir, it's deep, these kinds of things happen. We don't know all the circumstances. Investigators are working on that, getting as much information as possible."
The missing person at Lake Puru has been identified as Naya Rivera, 33, of Los Angeles. SAR operation will continue at first light. @VCAirUnit @fillmoresheriff @Cal_OES pic.twitter.com/bC3qaZS3Ra
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 9, 2020
Naya had shared a photo of herself kissing Josey on social media on Tuesday with the caption: "Just the two of us."
The actress, 33, is best known for playing Santana Lopez on musical comedy series Glee.
