Naya Rivera dead at 33 – Glee star’s body found floating five days after she boosted son onto boat and disappeared
GLEE star Naya Rivera used the last of her energy pushing her son back onboard a boat but didn't have enough to save herself, police say.
The actress' body was discovered floating near the surface of California’s Lake Piru on Monday - five days after she went missing underwater.
The announcement came as Rivera's family and former Glee castmates gathered at the lake to support each other following the tragic discovery.
ABC7 Eyewitness News shared a heartbreaking image of her loved ones standing hand-in-hand at the dock before the announcement that a body was found.
Rivera's family reportedly looked out at the water and held each other.
She had taken a photograph of her son on the boat and sent it to relatives just 90 minutes before Josey was found alone on the boat.
The photo showed a cove in the lake, which was where police focused their search.
Her body was found exactly seven years to the day that her co-star Cory Monteith died in a hotel room in Vancouver.
Her distraught father George was snapped at Lake Piru yesterday desperately seeking clues into Rivera's disappearance.
“There were a lot of folks that were talking on social media about, ‘Oh, check the cabins," King explained. "Maybe she’s there, maybe she’s hanging out.'"
"We don’t know if she’s going to be found five minutes from now or five days from now, so we’re still going to be continuing this effort," he said. "The visibility in the water is one to two feet."
Officials are using a solar system to hunt for her body.
"It’s very effective," he said of the sonar system.
"They get a really detailed image and they can go down and focus on specific things rather than putting divers in the water where they’re literally feeling around because they can’t see."