33-year-old actress, Naya Rivera is missing and presumed dead after her four-year-old son was found floating on a boat alone on Lake Piru in California.
She played Santana Lopez on the Fox show for six years from 2009 to 2015, and appeared in nearly every episode of the musical-comedy-drama.
The actress and singer vanished from Lake Piru in Ventura County on Wednesday evening, and County Sheriff’s Office said search efforts will resume “at first light” for a possible drowning victim.
Rivera went to the lake Wednesday afternoon and rented a boat with her young child. Both were seen going out on the lake together, Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Buschow said at a news conference.
Search began at the reservoir at around 1pm on Wednesday after she and her son, failed to return three hours after their boat rental expired.
When the staff found the boat, they discovered her 3-year-old son was alone wearing a life jacket.
Sheriff’s Department Cpt. Dean Worthy told The Los Angeles Times that investigators arrived at the scene around 4:40 p.m. and found a toddler “unharmed,” but were still searching for the mother, who was nowhere to be found.”
Authorities believe Rivera to be ‘presumed drowned’ and a search has been launched to locate her body, according to Captain Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Venture County Sheriff’s Office.
Buschow said her 4-year-old son was found sleeping on the boat by himself by other boaters in the lake.
“He’s in good health. The boy was initially reported by authorities to be a 3-year-old girl. The family is going through a very traumatic time right now.” Buschow said
Search operation is currently ongoing to find her, dead or alive.