Naya Rivera’s presumed death is still in the news because it’s still “presumed.” They still haven’t found her remains. The local sheriff’s office – the people spearheading the search – has come to the conclusion that there was no foul play or anything like that, this was just some kind of incredibly tragic accident involving murky waters and what will almost definitely be an accidental drowning. Divers have been searching the lake for days now and they still haven’t found anything:
The recovery operation for Glee star Naya Rivera continued on Sunday, with Ventura law enforcement announcing that they would check cabins and outbuildings in the surrounding area of Lake Piru, as well as the shoreline. As of Sunday, boat crews will continue to scan the lake as surrounding areas of the lake will also be checked, they tweeted. But Sunday night, they tweeted that the search had concluded, to no avail, and would continue Monday morning.
Though many have expressed that they want to help in the search, officials reiterated that their teams are “well equipped and highly trained.” “For those intent on searching for Naya Rivera on your own, 1. The lake is closed. 2. Temps are already in the 90’s. 3. The terrain around the lake is very steep and rugged. Our teams are well equipped and highly trained. We don’t want to have to rescue you,” they tweeted Sunday.
Lake Piru in Southern California remains closed to the public. Dive teams from throughout the region are assisting the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department through mutual aid. The California Office of Emergency Services and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are involved in the investigation as well as Tulare County and San Luis Obispo County’s sheriff’s office. The main focus of the search area is the north and east side of the lake, authorities have said.
Authorities say they believe Rivera drowned in Lake Piru while boating with her 4-year-old son on Wednesday. Calling it a “tragic accident,” authorities have expressed their condolences to the family and fans.
The investigation turned into a “recovery operation” on Thursday, which is when Naya was presumed dead. The sheriff’s office has 100 people in or around the lake searching, and they’ve called in reinforcements from other counties. Divers who have been part of the search describe extremely poor visibility underwater, and there are tree roots, branches and lots of debris at the bottom of the lake. As much as I think it’s weird that they haven’t found anything, I think the fact that they haven’t found her remains yet could be indicative of Naya possibly getting caught in an underwater branch or something and not being able to make it to the surface. The very idea of that is so haunting, my God. One of my biggest nightmares is drowning like that.
Naya’s mother and Naya’s ex-husband have gone to the lake over the past few days to pray and say their goodbyes. I find it invasive that media outlets are publishing those photos, so I won’t link to them. This story is just so tragic.
Update: Today they finally found her remains. Not much else is known at this point.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.
I hope she’s found alive and if she has passed, I hope she’s at peace. I’m so sorry
She was found dead unfortunately
I’m glad they found her for the sake of closure, such as it is under the circumstances, but oh, how very sad and unfortunate that this happened.
Ay, ¡la pobre!
One sad news story after another today. This is just all so unreal. We need some good news, something, anything.
I feel so sad for her son…
Such a tragic event all around. My heart is with all of her family and friends.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve had nightmares of drowning. I don’t like deep, murky waters. We have rivers and a lake where I live but won’t get in them.
I feel so much for the family. The significance of having a body to mourn is so important for closure. One of my great uncles was lost at sea during World War II. My great grandmother was never able to accept that he was dead and was still waiting for her boy to come home to her 30 years later when she herself passed. M grandmother and great aunts and uncles have told me that on some days, they have difficulty believing it too, that they would think they saw him walking by on the street or sitting on the other side of a restaurant or would have ‘what if” thoughts about him somehow making it to safety but unable to communicate who he was or where he was from. We saw lot of that with families in New York after the 9/11 attack. It is so difficult. My prayers are with them.
Closure is so important, but it must be a second round of pain to have that tiny shred of hope taken. In those final moments, she probably knew her boy was safe.
The waiting would be so hard. They won’t have closure until they find her.
As I said above, they won’t. They just won’t.. It’s so sad.
Thank you for not publishing or linking to the images of her family. It is infuriating that such moments of grief are not private. At least for right now, that lake is her grave (and who knows if it will remain so). Her family are there to mourn, and they get their privacy invaded. I don’t want to support any outlet that publishes those kind of pictures.
Yes, thank you for that. I appreciate not being made an unintentional voyeur to their heartbreak.
It’s being said all over other social media platforms that Lake Piru is known to be dangerous and have crazy currents and water temps that can paralyze you and cause you to drown instantly. It’s so so sad. I hope her family has some closure and I hope her son is being loved and cared for.
A drop in water temperature won’t “paralyze you and cause you to drown instantly.” But currents and underwater obstacles can, and there are plenty of those apparently. She may have been entangled in plant matter and unable to surface.
It’s such a tragedy, and the lack of closure makes it harder. You can “know” what happened but still want that final confirmation.
Since the possibility was raised that she could have been dragged down by a whirlpool, I watched a video on YouTube this weekend to see how it operates. It was taken on a very still lake. I’ve never seen anything so terrifying. It moves stealthily and devours everything in its path. It appears to be small but was able to drag huge pieces of dead trees and blocks of ice into its vortex. And it keeps moving forward while everything around it is still. I will never ever go into a lake again after watching that. Knowing that this lake has a problem with this awful phenomenon, I can’t believe it’s ever open to the public or why people renting boats aren’t explicitly told not to enter the water under any circumstances.
That is absolutely terrifying. I didn’t even know whirlpools could occur in lakes.
I did not know that either! How frightening.
Stoooop. That’s like when someone introduced me to the term “blue hole” and I mentally cried in terror watching a video of someone diving one.
I just can’t get over how tragic this story is. It makes me want to weep whenever I see a headline about it. Her son was robbed of his mother and she of the experience and joy of raising him. I can’t and don’t want to imagine her last thoughts, knowing she couldn’t get back to him on that boat.
One of those freak things that reminds you how random and cruel life can be. Ugh. 😢
ITA Andrea, I pray that she hit her head or something and was unconscious because the alternative, those last minutes… it’s just too horrifying and heartbreaking to consider. That poor little boy.
Thank y’all for not posting the pictures of her family at the lake here. It is the tasteful, kind and decent thing to do. I appreciate it.
I keep hoping that she made it to land somewhere, is completely disoriented and simply hasn’t been found yet.
Reading about that lake showed that there are a lot of accidents there. I guess in effect one death every couple of years isn’t abnormal but when you read them all condensed together it makes that place seem like a death trap. I’m amazed people go there at all. But I guess you really have to search for it and most people wouldn’t research something like that.
Breaking news: The police have found a body – there will be a press conference from authorities later.
So sad.
I’m so sad for her loved ones, but hopefully the will get some closure, at least.
How brave Are the searchers. Poor Naya and her family.
They found her body 🙁
Breaking news from Ventura County, Lake Piru, body found. Press conference 2:00 pm PT
A mom in my hometown lost her teenage son to the ocean when he was just in the surf. They looked for him immediately, but could never find his body.
She could not accept his death, hoping that he washed up in a different prt of the beach, picked up by fishermen, any , just any explanation or justification so he could be alive. So sad that she could not find closure, and sad and thankful that the Rivera- Dorsey family now can start to say goodbye.
Omg.. this show is cursed… ugh. Watched a lot of Glee in college. My gosh. This is just so sad. I guess at least yeah, the family can.. now at least know what happened to her and have a funeral for her. Ugh omg this is too sad.
Even though it was the worst possible outcome I hope her family can begin the healing process since they’ve now been given some closure. This one has really hit me hard, it’s so terribly sad & tragic.
Some people are also mentioning that her body was recovered seven years to the day that Cory Monteith passed away. I can’t believe how long it’s been since he passed. And Naya losing her life and being robbed of raising her son. The whole thing is a tragedy.
It’s so awful. They surmised from the scene and the child’s story that the boat wasn’t anchored and drifted. She managed to get her son back on but not herself and he SAW her go under. So freakin terrible.
How does anyone know the child saw her go under?
Heyday he told authorities that she boosted him up and when he turned around he saw her go under.
Wear vests. Enjoy a relaxing time on the lake with friends in a pontoon boat. Stay out of the water.
This is absolutely heartbreaking.