“Our hearts and prayers go out the all of the family and friends of the Rivera family,” the sheriff’s department said Thursday as the investigation continued.
Lake Piru in Southern California is closed to the public as authorities continued their search Thursday for Glee actress Naya Rivera, who went missing Wednesday while boating with her 4-year-old son Josey on Lake Piru.
Dive teams from throughout the region are assisting the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department through mutual aid, according to authorities. The search for the actress resumed at sunup. The California Office of Emergency Services is also involved in the investigation. Neither the depth of the lake nor any possible impediments were immediately identified by authorities.
“Multiple teams of professional search & rescue personnel are actively searching Lake Piru for clues to the location of Naya Rivera. With over 80 people involved in the search right now, we are using helicopters, boats, ATV vehicles, and ground personnel to try and locate her,” the sheriff’s department said via Twitter around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. “We have mutual aid for specialized dive teams en route from Los Angeles County, San Luis Obispo County, and Tulare County. We will keep you posted with any updates as we learn them. Our hearts and prayers go out the all of the family and friends of the Rivera family.”
USA Today, citing the Ventura County Sheriff’s Dept., reports that the search for the actress has transitioned into a recovery effort, and that Rivera is presumed dead.
The 33-year-old rented a boat at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Three hours later, another boater found her son in a boat by himself wearing a life vest. Sheriff’s officials launched a search using helicopters, drones and dive teams, according to the sheriff’s department. At 10:39 p.m., the Ventura County Sheriff’s Twitter wrote that search and rescue for Rivera, noted as a possible drowning victim, had been suspended and would continue “at first light” on Thursday.
Rivera’s son, whose father is Ryan Dorsey, is reported to be unharmed and told authorities that he and his mother went for a swim, but his mother never returned to the boat.
Lake Piru is located in Ventura County, California, in the Los Padres National Forest, over 50 miles north of Los Angeles.
Rivera has been an actress since her youth, first appearing in a number of TV commercials before she moved on to television series and film. She kicked off her career at age 4 on CBS’ short-lived comedy Royal Family, but her breakthrough and most notable role was Santana Lopez on Fox’s musical comedy series Glee. She started out in a recurring guest role as Santana Lopez before being promoted to the full-time cast one year later.
Her character became a fan favorite when fans picked up on the natural chemistry between Lopez and ditzy fellow cheerleader Brittany, played by dancer Heather Morris, onscreen. The couple would become icons for lesbian representation on television as Rivera rocketed to stardom as part of the show’s popularity soared.
As the show gained momentum, many of the castmembers also planned out their solo music careers. In 2011, she signed as a solo artist with Columbia Records — the label behind the show’s soundtracks — and released her first single, “Sorry,” which featured rapper Big Sean.
In 2016, Rivera released a tell-all memoir titled Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up, in which she recounted her career and her time on Glee.
After Glee, Rivera had a recurring role on the Lifetime series Devious Maids. She most recently starred opposite Ne-Yo on the TV version of Step Up, which recently moved from YouTube to Starz for its second season. On Step Up, Rivera played Collette Jones, an administrator at the show’s High Water Performing Arts School.
On Tuesday, Rivera had tweeted a photo of her kissing Josey with the caption, “just the two of us.”
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
