For years, fans watched Matthew Morrison coach Naya Rivera’s character as the fictional glee club director on Glee. And on July 10, Matthew looked heartbroken as his beloved co-star remained missing. Matthew was pictured leaving a Home Depot with a cart filled with wood, and even with a face mask on, Matthew’s mood appeared somber. He kept his eyes on the ground while entering the parking lot with a friend.
Matthew has not yet reacted online to the devastating news of Naya’s disappearance, after she went missing following a boating trip with her son Josey Hollis Dorsey, 4, in Lake Piru (north of Los Angeles, CA) on July 8. The young boy was found sleeping alone on the rented pontoon boat with his mother’s ID, purse and life jacket onboard. It’s an understandably difficult time, and not everyone is comfortable with making social media statements as the search continues; however, Naya’s other co-star, Heather Morris, pleaded for prayers from the public.
“We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back home to us. We need your love and light,” Heather, who played the love interest and fellow cheerleader of Naya’s character Santana Lopez on Glee, wrote in an Instagram Story on July 9. Naya’s childhood friend Tahj Mowry, who also shared scenes with Naya on his ’90s sitcom Smart Guy, also took to Instagram with heartbreaking words about his “first love.” The younger brother of Tia and Tamera Mowry even confessed that he has “never stopped loving” Naya, but believes he will still get the “chance” to share these feelings with Naya.
Rescuers have now been searching for Naya for four days. After the second day of the search operation, investigators were scared that Naya “drowned in what appeared to be a tragic accident,” according to a community message from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office that HollywoodLife obtained. Despite rescue efforts that have involved helicopters, boats, ATVs, cadaver dogs and sonar devices, all have remained fruitless. Authorities have revealed poor “visibility” in the lake is partially to blame, which the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office revealed in footage shared to Twitter on July 10.
2/2 Here’s an example of the underwater visibility at a 30-foot depth in Lake Piru. pic.twitter.com/YGNNUdmPQ4
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 11, 2020
“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,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson and captain Eric Buschow explained during a press conference on July 10. The deepest point of the lake reaches to about a depth of 130 feet.