The Heartbreaking Reason As to Why Naya Rivera Drowned

On Monday afternoon (July 13, 2020), celebrities took to social media to remember Glee star Naya Rivera, whose body was found in California’s Lake Piru after six days of searching.

The messages began pouring in after Ventura County Sheriff William Ayub told the press that he was “confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera,” based on the “location of 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.”

Naya Rivera 2015 March Of Dimes Celebration Of Babies - Arrivals — Naya Rivera attends the March Of Dimes Celebration Of Babies Luncheon honoring Jessica Alba at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on December 4, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Getty Images)

“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 found is that of Naya Rivera,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a press conference Monday, adding that there is no indication of foul play, or that Rivera died by suicide.

According to Ayub, Rivera’s body was found near where she had been swimming with her son. He said, “We believe she was concealed within the shrubbery of some of the floorbed of the lake.”

Naya Rivera and son Josey Hollis Dorsey arrive for the premiere of “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” at the Regency Village theatre on February 2, 2019 in Westwood, California. (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

“We know from speaking with her son that he and Naya swam in the lake together at some point during their journey,” the sheriff added. “It was during that time that her son described being helped into the boat by Naya, who boosted him onto the deck from behind. He told investigators that he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water.”

When asked by a reporter, the sheriff speculated that the circumstances leading up to Rivera’s death were the following: “The idea perhaps being the boat started drifting — it was unanchored — and she mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not to save herself.”