Former Glee star Naya Rivera is missing. The popular actress reportedly rented a boat with her four-year-old son yesterday afternoon, but that evening, the same boat was reportedly discovered with only her son on board. He was sleeping and unharmed, but his mother has still not been located.
There are conflicting reports right now about some of the specifics, but there seems to be agreement around the basic outline. The Glee star and her son reportedly rented the boat around 1 PM, per The Los Angeles Times and others. At a little before 5 PM, authorities responded to a report of a toddler by himself on a boat. When they arrived, they found the child alone but no sign of Rivera. He was reportedly wearing his life jacket, and according to TMZ, there was an adult life jacket, presumably Rivera’s found on board.
Police reportedly searched for hours trying to find Rivera yesterday evening and into the night, but the search was eventually called off due to darkness. All involved will reportedly return to Lake Piru today to continue searching. Based on the current evidence, police do not suspect any foul play at all. A spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department told NBC Los Angeles that it's being considered a "horrible accident" at this point.
Rivera first rose to prominence as a child actress on the CBS show The Royal Family. She picked up a variety of smaller roles and guest spots on hit TV shows including Family Matters and The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, but her true breakout came when she was cast as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee. The show struck a chord with audiences almost immediately, and her performance drew rave reviews from fans and critics. She ultimately appeared in more than one hundred episodes and later launched a music career. More recently, she's been featured on the series Step Up: High Water, which announced a move to Starz. She was scheduled to reprise her role. Rivera is just 33 years old.
The search for the missing actress is expected to begin with more resources the first thing this morning. In the hours since she first went missing, there has been an outpouring of support from both fans and her current and former co-workers on Glee, a show that has unfortunately experienced a lot of loss. Her son is reportedly in "good health" and is staying with family members right now. In her 2016 memoir she called him "my greatest success." She shares custody alongside the father, actor Ryan Dorsey.
