Naya Rivera’s body found in California lake 5 days after disappearance
The 'Glee' actress went missing while swimming with her 4-year-old son
Naya Rivera‘s body was recovered from Lake Piru on Monday morning five days after she went missing while swimming with her 4-year-old son.
Local law enforcement confirmed during a press conference Monday afternoon that the Glee star’s body was discovered in the Ventura County, California reservoir.
According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, there was no indication of foul play or suicide in the death of Rivera. She was 33.
Authorities said on Monday that they believe the wind may have caused the boat to begin drifting and Rivera was unable to get herself on to the boat after saving her son.
On Sunday, a member of a team searching the Southern California lake for Rivera said that he was confident his crew was getting a clearer idea of where in the lake to find her, a magazine reported.
Robert Inglis of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue Team told Us Weekly that Rivera sent to a family member a picture of her son, Josey, in front of a cove before she disappeared July 8 after diving into Lake Piru.
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“There was a picture sent to a family member that showed the boy on the boat by a cove,” Inglis told the magazine. “We found where that cove was.”
A time stamp on the photo shows it was taken 90 minutes to two hours before the boy was found alone on the pontoon boat, the magazine reported.
Inglis told Us Weekly that the area where the photo was taken and the spot where the boat was found were starting points for authorities before the search was expanded.
“We did send our dive members to those two locations and searched those extensively,” he told Us Weekly.
Rivera remained missing as of Sunday night.
Authorities said Thursday they believe Rivera drowned. Her son was found on the boat.
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The boy told investigators that he and his mother went swimming and he got back on the boat, but “his mom never made it out of the water,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Donoghue said.
Rivera began acting at a young age, but she rose to national attention playing a lesbian teen on “Glee,” which aired from 2009 until 2015 on Fox.
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This story corrected Rivera’s son’s name to Josey.
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