Glee star Naya Rivera had died at the age of 33 after it was confirmed the body found at a California lake is the missing actress.
The star was presumed dead after her four-year-old son was found floating alone on a boat on Lake Piru in California on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said tonight that based on physical characteristics, clothing and location the body was found, they were confident it was Naya.
The body has been taken to morgue for physical ID.
Naya reportedly rented a pontoon boat and went out on to the lake with her son Josey and Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said they responded to a report of the little boy alone on a boat around 4.48pm.
A dive team and air unit were deployed in response, with the VCSD saying the child was reportedly unharmed.
They told investigators that he and his mother were swimming, but she never got back into the boat.
Authorities reported that they were searching for a presumed drowning victim but the search was suspended over night and resumed the following day.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier today, a body was discovered at the site, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. They have since identified it as Naya.
The actress was best known for playing Santana Lopez in the hit musical drama series and Naya’s last tweet is poignantly of her cuddling her son.
She captioned the close up pic of them together, which she posted on Tuesday, with: “just the two of us”.
(Image: Naya Rivera/Instagram)
Captain Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, said Josey was unharmed when he was found onboard the pontoon boat Naya had hired three hours prior to her going missing.
It’s been reported a fellow boater raised the alarm after spotting their vessel drifting, and Josey was found by himself on it.
“They were seen going out on the lake together in the early afternoon, and approximately three hours after they left the dock another boater out on the lake discovered the boat drifting with the [son] on board asleep,” Captain Buschow told media.
Naya began her career as a child actress and model, landing her first major TV role when aged four, starring as Hilary Winston in CBS sitcom The Royal Family.
She got her breakthrough as an adult in Glee, in which she appeared from 2009 to 2015 and received a number of nominations for her portrayal of Santana Lopez.
Naya released a single, Sorry, in 2013 with rapper Sean Paul, after signing a deal with Columbia Records two years earlier
