Glee actress Naya Rivera is the subject of a search on Lake Piru near Los Angeles after she went missing during an outing with her 4-year-old son. CBS Los Angeles was among the first to report the sad news after the pair had rented and deployed a pontoon boat early Wednesday afternoon. At some point, a swimming accident occurred within the next few hours, and Rivera’s child was discovered alone in the boat about three hours after the pair embarked upon the lake.
The child, who was sleeping unharmed upon discovery, told investigators that he and Rivera, age 33, had gone swimming in the Ventura County lake, “but his mother never got back into the boat.” In an overnight tweet, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the missing person to be Rivera and revealed that the search would enter a second day “at first light,” although Rivera’s currently presumed to have drowned.
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 County Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 9, 2020
CNN further reports word from Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Buschow, who revealed that the child was wearing a life vest when he was found, but that the boat contained an adult life vest.
Rivera’s last tweet before she went missing was a photo of herself in the child. Her caption reads, “[J]ust the two of us.”
https://twitter.com/NayaRivera/status/1280626721146826752
UPDATE — 11:40am EST: TMZ reports the grim update of the search moving from “a rescue to a recovery mission”:
5:29 AM PT — Authorities have just made it clear — Naya is presumed dead and the search has now shifted from a rescue to a recovery mission. She went missing in water with only 5 to 9 inches of visibility, and authorities say the lake is filled with trees and debris on the bottom. Law enforcement says it typically takes 7 to 10 days for a body to rise to the surface.
(Via CBS Los Angeles & CNN)
