Naya Rivera’s former husband Ryan Dorsey is said to have rushed straight to his son Josey after the Glee actress went missing yesterday.
The 33-year-old actress went boating and swimming with Josey, four, at Lake Piru in California on Wednesday afternoon after renting a pontoon boat.
Josey said that he went swimming with his mother but that she never returned. He was found sleeping on their drifting pontoon by another passing boat.
Police are still searching the lake and surrounding area for Naya, but have said she is now presumed dead.
Ryan, 36, was pictured with Josey for the first time since Naya went missing on Thursday. They were leaving a house belonging to Naya’s sister, Nickayla Rivera, in Valencia, California.
A housemate of Ryan’s told the DailyMail.com: ‘Ryan headed up there as soon as their son was found to look after him. He was gone by the time I got home Wednesday.’
The friend later added: ‘It’s a horrible circumstance and we’re hoping for the best.’
Naya, who is best known for playing Santana Lopez in the hit musical comedy series, married Ryan in 2014 and welcomed son Josey in 2015. The couple split in 2017 and finalised their divorce the following year.
Ventura County Sheriff officer Chris Dyer said officers remain hopeful but are ‘realistic’ about what happened, adding that Naya is now presumed dead.
Speaking during a press conference held at the side of the lake on Thursday morning, Dyer said: ‘I think a tragic accident happened here and it breaks my heart.
‘Not only am I helping search for Ms Rivera but I’m also a father, it really pains me that something that was meant to be so good and so fun, to come out here on the lake, went so bad.’
He continued: ‘I’m hopeful at all times but I am realistic too about what’s going on out here and I hope we can find Ms Rivera in good health.
‘And if that ends up not being the case, I still hope we can find her and bring closure to anything that has happened to her.’
The Ventura County Sheriff’s office revealed that are multiple teams of professional search and rescue personnel actively searching Lake Piru for ‘clues to the location’ of Naya.
‘With over 80 people involved in the search right now, we are using helicopters, boats, ATV vehicles, and ground personnel to try and locate her,’ they tweeted.
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