LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California lake will be closed while they search its waters for “Glee” star Naya Rivera, authorities said Thursday.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department late Wednesday confirmed that Rivera, 33, is the person missing in the waters of Lake Piru, which is approximately 55 miles (90 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. The department said Thursday that divers from other agencies in the region will join the search.
Helicopters and drones will also join the search, as they did on Wednesday, and authorities are checking the lake’s 12-mile (19 kilometer) shoreline.
KNBC reported late Wednesday that Rivera rented a pontoon boat at the Lake Piru reservoir and that her young son was found on the boat wearing a life vest. Rivera’s identification was found on the boat. Sheriff’s officials launched a boat and helicopter search but that was suspended by nighttime.
“We’re going on the belief that she did go in the water and we have not been able to locate her. So this may well be a case of drowning,” Captain Eric Buschow said at a news conference.
KTTV reported Thursday morning that the owner of the boat Rivera rented went out to look for her after she was overdue to return the vessel. Her son told the boat’s owner that he and his mom had gone swimming in the lake, sheriff’s deputy Chris Dyer said Thursday.
Rivera’s 4-year-old son is from a marriage with actor Ryan Dorsey. The couple finalized their divorce in June 2018 after nearly four years of marriage.
She called the boy “my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him” in her 2016 memoir “Sorry Not Sorry.”
The actress was engaged to rapper Big Sean in 2013, but their relationship ended a year later. The pair met on Twitter and collaborated musically, with the rapper appearing on Rivera’s debut single “Sorry.”
Rivera played Santana, a cheerleader in the musical-comedy “Glee” that aired on Fox from 2009 until 2015. She appeared in 113 episodes of the series and dated co-star Mark Salling, who killed himself inf 2018 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
