The search for Naya Rivera continues and information on her disappearance arises. Prayers from all around are being poured out to Naya praying that she is found alive and her family as rescuers have declared a presumptuous death. According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Rivera came to Lake Piru in Ventura County, California, north of Los Angeles, around 1 p.m. PST on Wednesday.
Naya rented a boat for her and her son to go out onto the lake, Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Buschow said in a news conference.
About three hours after Naya and Josey left the dock, another boater on the lake noticed a boat drifting with the child asleep on board.
The boat was found in the area called “The Narrows” on the north end of the lake.
Authorities were notified and began a search and rescue efforts from the air and with a dive team.
Josey the four year old son of Naya Rivera was not able to offer much information to Buschow accept that they went swimming, but his mother didn’t get back on the boat when he did.
The child had a life vest on and an adult life vest was found on the boat, according to Buschow.
The search and rescue mission was suspended Wednesday night and resumed first light on Thursday.
Officials said more that 80 people were involved in the search for Rivera, best known for playing Santana Lopez on the hit Fox series “Glee,” which ran from 2009-2015.
The lake was closed for the search.
“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,” tweeted the Ventura County Sheriff’s office.
On Thursday authorities announced that the operation had moved from a search and rescue to a search and recovery mission.
“We’re presuming that an accident happened and we’re presuming she drowned in the lake,” said Deputy Chris Dyer at a press conference Thursday. “We hope for the best, we prepare for the worst.”
He said it is not uncommon for visitors to go to the lake midweek as the draw is likely fewer people and less traffic.
The boat Rivera rented was a pontoon with a deck cover and the rental operator did not notice anything out of the ordinary, Dyer said.
The boat was found on the north end of the lake where wind is often a factor in boating conditions.
Dyer said the depth of the lake can run anywhere from 6 to 40 feet and the bottom of the lake has a lot of debris.
He also said Rivera’s son was healthy and with family.
On Thursday, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office tweeted a link to a security video posted on YouTube.
In the video Naya Rivera is seen walking across the lake’s parking lot, her son trailing in her wake, as the pair head out to the dock, toward the boat she had rented.
Officials tweeted the 911 call in which an employee of the boat rental company reports Rivera’s disappearance and the discovery of her child.
