Actress Naya Rivera found dead

Investigators on Monday found a body at the California lake where the actress Naya Rivera disappeared almost a week ago, the authorities said.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office was still recovering the body on Monday morning, said Capt. Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the office. He said that the body would be examined and identified by the county Medical Examiner’s Office.
In the days since Ms. Rivera, 33, went missing on July 8 at Lake Piru, search teams from agencies throughout the state had scoured the lake, using helicopters, A.T.V.s, boats, drones, dogs and diving gear.

Ms. Rivera, a star in the series “Glee,” and her 4-year-old son were the only people on a pontoon she had rented at Lake Piru when they went out on the water last week, according to a security video released by the sheriff’s office. The video showed them arriving at the dock in a dark S.U.V., walking to the marina and then heading north on the boat on the lake.
When the 20-foot boat did not return on time the afternoon of July 8, workers from the dock began searching for it, Sgt. Kevin Donoghue of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.
Another boater found the boy, alone and wearing a life jacket, asleep on the boat at 4 p.m. that day. A second life jacket was also found in the boat.
The boy told investigators that he and his mother had been swimming in the lake and that he got back in the boat but she did not, according to the sheriff’s office.


Sergeant Donoghue said the next day that the boat was found in the northern part of the lake, in an area where the water is about 30 feet deep. Search efforts had been hampered by limited water visibility of less than a foot during the day, and trees and debris under the surface.
The search-and-rescue mission shifted into a search-and-recovery effort as the day wore on. The authorities said they believed Ms. Rivera had accidentally drowned.
The authorities said that Ms. Rivera had previous experience boating on the lake, a reservoir and campground in Los Padres National Forest, about 55 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The recreational area, which reopened on July 1 with limited activities because of the coronavirus, features boat rentals, kayaking and paddle boarding. It was closed during the search.
Ms. Rivera made her acting debut as a 4-year-old on the 1991 CBS sitcom “The Royal Family.”
She also had guest appearances on other shows including “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and “Family Matters.” But Ms. Rivera is probably best known for her role as a sharp-tongued singing cheerleader, Santana Lopez, on “Glee,” which ran on Fox from 2009 to 2015. The campy show followed the friendships, relationships and everyday dramas of a high school glee club, and Ms. Rivera appeared in 116 episodes. Her most recent appearance being in the Step Up:High Water series starring alongside Neyo and Faizon Love.

Rivera had dated rapper Big Sean in 2013 and were engagaed in 2014 but broke off the engagement after finding out he was cheating on her with fellow singer Ariana Grande. She then married actor Ryan Dorsey in 2014 after dating fir five months and gave birth to their son, Josey Hollis, in 2015. The couple split in 2018.
The day before her disappearance, she shared a photo with her son with the caption “just the two of us.”
 
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