Photo Sent By Naya Rivera Just Before She Went Missing May Help in Search

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As the search continues for Naya Rivera, a member of the search team is confident they are getting closer to finding the location where she went missing, thanks to a photo.

Robert Inglis of the Ventura County Sheriffโ€™s Office Search & Rescue Team told Us Weekly that actress Naya Rivera sent to a family member a picture of her 4-year-old son, Josey, in front of a cove before she disappeared July 8 after diving into Lake Piru.

โ€œThere was a picture sent to a family member that showed the boy on the boat by a cove,โ€ Inglis told the magazine. โ€œWe found where that cove was.โ€

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Naya Rivera on July 24, 2013 in Giffoni Valle Piana, Italy. (Photo by Getty Images)

A timestamp on the photo revealed that the pic was taken 90 minutes to two hours before the 4-year-old was found alone on the pontoon boat on Wednesday, July 8, half a mile from the shore of Lake Piru, with no sign of the 33-year-old actress.

Inglis told Us Weekly that the area where the photo was taken and the spot where the boat was found were starting points for authorities before the search was expanded.

โ€œWe did send our dive members to those two locations and searched those extensively,โ€ he told Us Weekly.

Rivera remained missing as of Sunday night. The search was called off Sunday evening and expected to resume Monday morning.

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Naya Rivera arrives at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Getty Images)

Authorities said Thursday they believe Rivera, 33, drowned in the lake. Her son was found the boat.

Yesterday (July 12, 2020), โ€œcabins and outbuildings in the surrounding area will be checked once again, as well as the shoreline,โ€ the Ventura County Sheriffโ€™s Office shared on Sunday.

โ€œThis has been part of the ongoing search effort since her disappearance on Wednesday afternoon. Boat crews continue to scan the lake.โ€

Speaking with People on Sunday, Sgt. Shannon King confirmed that investigators completed a search of the cabins near Lake Piru to make sure โ€œnothing has changed.โ€

โ€œTheyโ€™re not occupied. Nothing came of it,โ€ King tells People, explaining that the larger focus of the search โ€œwas the shoreline.โ€

โ€œThey were just doing the shoreline to make sure nothing has changed. There were a lot of folks that were talking on social media about, โ€˜Oh, check the cabins. Maybe sheโ€™s there, maybe sheโ€™s hanging out,โ€™ โ€ King says, noting that since they had โ€œextraโ€ search and rescue personnel on Sunday, they โ€œdid go to a couple of the cabins that were on the north end of the lake, thatโ€™s all thatโ€™s out there, and nothing came of it.โ€

At this point, authorities still have no reason to believe that Rivera ever โ€œleft the water.โ€

โ€œThereโ€™s no evidence to say she left the water. It appears to be 100 percent just a tragic drowning,โ€ King explains.

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