The search for Glee star Naya Rivera at Lake Piru in California continued over the weekend. She disappeared on Thursday during a boating trip with her 4-year-old son Josey. He was found napping on the boat, and is doing fine.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office released video footage from their deployment of a remotely operated vehicle 30 feet under the lake’s surface. The ROV was sent down to investigate a dark shape, but it turned out to be a tree branch.
TMZ reports that authorities are also planning to search the cabins around the lake to dispel theories that Rivera made her way to one.
RECOVERING RIVERA
Ventura County Sheriff's Office Captain Eric Buschow said the situation is “difficult” because “we don’t know if she’s going to be found five minutes from now or five days from now.”
Buschow is confident that Rivera’s body will be found. Rivera shared Josey with her ex-husband Ryan Dorsey. He reportedly told authorities that they went swimming together in the lake, but that she never jumped back into the boat.
A spokesperson, Sergeant Kevin Donoghue, didn’t sound as sure as Buschow at an earlier press conference. “In this particular lake, in that area, there's a lot of trees and plants and such that are under the water that can cause entanglements. It makes it unsafe for the divers and it makes it a more complicated search,” Donoghue explained. “If the body is entangled in something beneath the water, it may never come back up. We don't know.”
An eyewitness told ET of seeing Rivera and Josey set off: “It was a beautiful day. It was comfortable weather and there were other pontoon boats in the water and even a water skier. She looked like any other mother with her son going out to enjoy the day.”
While Josey was wearing a life vest, Rivera was not.
FAMILY VISIT
Amid the search, Rivera’s family members visited Lake Piru on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office tells ET. The lake is about 1,200 acres in size, with depths of 130 feet.
Her father George, mother Yolanda and brother Mychal reportedly broke down in tears at the lake, with Yolanda falling to her knees with her arms stretched toward the water, TMZ reports.
Dorsey also visited the lake, and waded in the waters fully clothed with her father. The pair were seen embracing. Dorsey and Rivera divorced in 2018 after four years of marriage.
