Naya Rivera's ex-husband has joined the search for the missing Glee star
Naya Rivera's ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, has attended the scene where the search for the Glee actor has been taking place over the past five days. Dorsey was photographed looking understandably emotional by Lake Piru in California, where Rivera was last seen alive on Wednesday, taking the couple's four-year-old son Josey for a boat trip .
Both mother and son are believed to have gone swimming in the lake, but only Josey returned. Naya Rivera's unused life jacket was found in the boat, along with the child, who had managed to clamber back in and was discovered asleep by a couple, who then immediately raised the alarm.
Naya Rivera and Ryan Dorsey got married in 2014, but later divorced in 2018 and shared custody of their son. Dorsey joined members of his ex-partner's family at the lakeside over the weekend, where they were seen wading in the waters and looking visibly emotional.
The 33-year-old actress was reported missing after her young son was found alone in a boat on Wednesday, 8 July. Despite a 100-strong search, which has included dive teams, helicopters and drones, the hunt for Naya Rivera was changed on Friday to a "search and recovery operation", after police confirmed the Glee star was presumed dead. On Monday (13 July), a body was recovered from the lake, and was later confirmed as that of Rivera.
After taking a statement from four-year-old Josey, local police said they were adamant Rivera's disappearance occurred as a result of a tragic accident. "Everything that we’ve learned so far leads to this being some sort of water recreational accident," Ventura County Sheriff's Office sergeant Kevin Donoghue told People. "To say definitively what actually happened, we really can’t say. We just don’t know, it’s a mystery," he added.
Speaking late last week, Donoghue told reporters there were fears Rivera may never be found, due to limited visibility in the lake. "If the body is entangled on something beneath the water, it may never come back up. There's no way to really say. We're putting our best foot forward to try and locate her, we're using all the assets that are available to us including technology like sonar."
Divers continue the search for Naya Rivera this afternoon at Lake Piru. This is day 5 of the search and recovery effort. She disappeared Wednesday afternoon while swimming in the lake. pic.twitter.com/3etxZ3ycpN
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 12, 2020
In a press conference last night confirmed the body found in Lake Piru was that of Naya Rivera's, with Sheriff Bill Ayub saying: "Today our search teams have recovered a body in the lake. Based on the location where the body was found, physical characteristics of the body, clothing found on the body, and the physical condition of the body, as well as the absence of any other persons reported missing in the area, we are confident the body we have found is that of Naya Rivera."
Tragically, Rivera's latest Instagram post featured a lovely image of herself and son Josey, with the caption, "just the two of us." Fans have since shared an outpouring of love on the photo, writing, "praying for you", and, "I'm heartbroken."
A post shared by Naya Rivera (@nayarivera) on Jul 7, 2020 at 3:15pm PDT
Our thoughts are with Naya Rivera's loved ones at this terrible time.
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