Naya Rivera‘s family visited Lake Piru, the place where the 33-year-old went missing after boating with her 4-year-old son Josey. The actress’ mother Yolanda and younger brother Mychal, 29, were seen at the Ventura County Lake on Saturday, June 11, as the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department continue the fourth day of searching for the Glee actress. Yolanda and Mychal, who is a free agent in the NFL, looked somber as they exited a Sheriff’s boat — both in life jackets — and walked alongside the dock. Police have previously confirmed that Naya “may never” be found if her body is “entangled in something” under the water.
Naya was declared missing on Wednesday, July 8 after her son Josey was found on a pontoon boat alone. “According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Rivera rented the boat at about 1 p.m. About three hours later, another boater found the child in the boat by himself,” police said, later releasing the 911 call of a woman describing a child “alone” with the “mother nowhere to be found.” The following day, Naya was presumed to have drowned in the lake, and the search was shifted to a recovery mission. Security footage later showed Naya parking dressed in shorts and flip flops as she walked to the lake with Josey after parking in the lot — the final image of the stunning actress before her disappearance.
“We don’t know if she’s going to be found five minutes from now or five days from now, so we’re still going to be continuing this effort,” Captain Eric Buschow, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in another press conference on July 10, adding that they are using a sonar system, a Coast Guard helicopter and specially trained dogs to help find Naya in the deep lake. “Wherever she went down, they’re confident that that’s where she’ll be found, it’s just finding that spot that’s the difficult part,” he said, explaining that limited visibility complicates the search.
“The visibility in the water is one to two feet,” Buschow added of the two-mile lake, which is 130 feet deep in some areas. “Our investigators have been in contact with the family since the beginning of this. We have a liaison with the family, working with them, and, of course, they are going through an extremely difficult time. We’re trying to do everything we can to provide as much resources as we can and provide some closure for them,” he salso said.
