The body of actress Naya Rivera, known for her role in Glee, was found at at Southern California lake, Lake Piru.
Ventura County Sheriff's officials confirmed at an afternoon news conference that the body that search crews found floating in the northeast corner of Lake Piru earlier in the day was that of the 33-year-old Rivera.
The discovery came five days after Rivera disappeared on Lake Piru, where her son was found on July 8 asleep and alone on a rented pontoon boat, authorities said.
Authorities said the following day that they believed Rivera had drowned, and they had shifted to working to find her body rather than find her alive. Her body has now been sent for an autopsy.
On July 8, when news of the disappearance of Riveria at Lake Piru broke, several people came out on social media to describe how unsafe the lake was, and how despite multiple drownings in the past, nobody had bothered to put up signs.
A viral thread on Twitter detailed how the lake had 'whirlpools' and the user commented how she lost a young family member in the lake, years ago.
Please never come to lake piru to swim!! I lost my prima at an extremely young age while she went out for a swim when a sudden whirlpool dragged her 6 feet under. For years our family has been asking to have signs be put up warning visitors about these waters. https://t.co/pIubC74Mhk
— Spooky Spice♀️ BLM (@skelingtonn) July 9, 2020
I know I shouldn’t have to justify my story; however, I didn’t want people to think I was making it up. Please be safe around this lake:( pic.twitter.com/yy4ZnXcThg
— Spooky Spice♀️ BLM (@skelingtonn) July 9, 2020
Many people backed up her claim.
She probably fell at the exact spot the whirlpool was because the kid said “she jumped in and never came up” . If she was drowning she would come up and start screaming and splashing around it would be a different case
— Hell (@foreverdepresso) July 9, 2020
I grew up here too (Fillmore technically) but yes Lake Piru is definitely bad vibes. I guarantee many of us from the area has known/heard of someone who has gone missing there. Also there’s been more cases since 2008, it’s just not an easy google search away
— Dmitri (@dmitri_jonathan) July 9, 2020
There hasn't been a drowning since 2008, and from what I've read it's not more dangerous than other lakes. If you have a body of water that's popular for swimming in, drownings are bound to happen even if it's not exceptionally dangerous.
— Bootleg Mermaid (@BootlegMermaid) July 9, 2020
There is even an online petition on Change.org to put up warning signs.
— Spooky Spice♀️ BLM (@skelingtonn) July 9, 2020
In Finnish and Spanish the word 'piru' is associated with the devil.
Wow pic.twitter.com/Ay7fkZrdWc
— quarantine kate (@ktko54) July 9, 2020
So it’s like the devil or some kind of demon is really dragging people into the lake...
— Black lives matter ✊ (@Kingboozie_) July 9, 2020
The LA Times had reported on the high number of cases of drowning in the lake.
Rivera had experience boating on the lake in Los Padres National Forest, authorities said. Surveillance video shows Rivera and her son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, leaving on the rented boat.
When the boat failed to return, its vendor found the vessel drifting in the northern end of the lake late Wednesday afternoon with the boy asleep on board, about three hours after it was first taken out. The boy told investigators that he and his mother had been swimming and he got back into the boat but she didn't, according to a sheriff's office statement.
The boy was wearing a life vest, and another life jacket was found in the boat along with Rivera's purse and identification.
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