In this Jan. 13, 2018, file photo, Naya Rivera participates in a panel during the YouTube Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, in Pasadena, Calif.Willy Sanjuan/The Associated Press
The search for Naya Rivera, 33, who starred in six seasons of the Fox series “Glee” as sharp-witted cheerleader Santana Lopez, resumed Thursday morning after she was reported missing Wednesday at Lake Piru in California, authorities said.
The efforts have become a search-and-recovery operation, Deputy Chris Dyer of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said at the lake on Thursday.
“It’s a realistic expectation of what the mission is,” he said. “It does not change the efforts. All the same resources are here.”
“We thoroughly believe a tragic accident happened out there and she drowned,” he added.
On Wednesday night, the Sheriff’s Office said that it was searching for a “possible drowning victim” in the lake. The search was suspended late Wednesday and resumed Thursday morning.
A Sheriff’s Office spokesman, Eric Buschow, said that Rivera rented a boat with her 4-year-old son Wednesday afternoon. The boat was a 20-foot aluminum hull pontoon. Another boater found the son alone on the boat at 4 p.m., he said.
The boy was safe and with family members on Thursday, Dyer said. The lake was closed to the public on Thursday for the search.
About 80 people from several agencies throughout the state are involved in the search, Dyer said. Helicopters, boats, drones and an underwater sonar system are all being used to study the lake.
He also said that search dogs would be brought to the lake, which is about two miles long and 40 to 50 feet deep but can vary.
Visibility in the water was about eight to 10 inches, according to Dyer, who added that there were “full-size trees and debris under the water.”
The Lake Piru Recreation Area is a reservoir and campground in Los Padres National Forest, about 55 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The recreational area, which reopened July 1 with limited activities because of the coronavirus, features boat rentals and kayak and paddle boarding.
Rivera began acting as a 4-year-old on the CBS sitcom “The Royal Family” and made guest appearances on a number of shows, including “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Family Matters” and “Baywatch.”
She broke through to wider stardom on “Glee,” with her role growing throughout the first season before she was made a series regular in the second season. In 2015, she was also featured in “Devious Maids,” a comedy drama series on Lifetime.
Rivera married actor Ryan Dorsey in 2014 and gave birth to their son, Josey Hollis, in 2015. The couple split in 2018.
Her most recent post on Twitter was a photo of herself and her son.
The cast of “Glee” has dealt with its share of tragedy. Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, was found dead in a hotel room in 2013 from a drug overdose when he was 31. Mark Salling, who played Noah Puckerman, was 35 when he died in what appeared to be a suicide in 2018, weeks after he pleaded guilty to federal charges of being in possession of child pornography.
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