Glee Star Naya Rivera Body Recovered, Dead at 33

07/13/2020 mj santilli Death 11

Naya Rivera Dead at 33

Glee Star Naya Rivera Dead at 33

Glee star Naya Rivera’s body has been recovered from Lake Piru in Ventura County, California.

Ventura County officials said Monday that a body had been found at the lake, and TMZ law enforcement sources have confirmed it is 33 year old Naya Rivera. A press conference sharing the news publicly is forthcoming.

Naya and her 4-year-old son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, were swimming in Lake Piru on Wednesday. Lake staff found Josey alone, wearing a life jacket, on a rented boat out in the middle of the lake. Josey got back in the boat and when authorities arrived for a check, he told them he and his mom were swimming and he didn’t know what happened to her.

Naya started acting at a young age. She appeared in various national TV commercials and landed the role of Hillary Winston on The Royal Family at 4 years old. She received a nomination for a Young Artist Award.

Naya Rivera Landed role as Santana Lopez in Glee in 2008

In 2008  she landed the role of Santana Lopez on the FOX hit series, Glee. She played a character that eventually came to grips with her sexuality, coming out as a lesbian.  She signed with Columbia Records in 2011. In 2013, she released a single, “Sorry,” featuring Big Sean, whom she dated and was briefly engaged to in 2013, before ending the relationship in 2014.

Naya later dated Josey’s father, actor Ryan Dorsey, marrying him in Cabo San Lucas in July 2014. They divorced in 2018 and had been sharing custody of Josey.

Other credits include a part in the  2014 in the horror film At the Devil’s Door. She also appeared on Lifetime’s Devious Maids.

In a strange coincidence, today marks the 7th anniversary of the death of Glee star Cory Monteith, who died from a drug overdose in a Vancouver, Canada hotel room. Naya is the third Glee star to die young.  Her ex-boyfriend Mark Salling commited suicide by hanging in 2018 right before he was to serve a jail sentence for possessing child po**ography.

Earlier this weekend, Glee stars asked fans to respect their privacy as they grieved. Some fans were tagging glee stars and chastising them for not publicly acknowledging Naya’s probably death. ““I haven’t seen not one of the GLEE CAST MEMBERS POST ABT NAYA EXCEPT FOR @HeatherMorrisTV AND @dotmariejones y’all a need to do better @LeaMichele @JennaUshkowitz @chriscolfer,” one wrote in a now deleted Tweet. 

Ventura County press conference announcing that Naya Rivera’s Body had been found

  • CA officials confident body found is Naya Rivera
  • No indication of foul play or suicide
  • 4-year-old son says she helped him into the boat while swimming before disappearing. The child told investigators that he “looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water.”
  • Autopsy to be performed to confirm identity

Report from ABC 7

The Sheriff speculates that strong currents occur in the afternoon. Naya may have been able to get her son back on the boat, but not herself.

Her friends and family gathered together on the lake this morning, including Glee cast members Heather Morris and Amber Riley.

Naya Rivera friends family gather at lake piro

Lea Michele Deletes Twitter, Kevin McHale Amber Riley Chastises Fans

In the meantime, Lea Michele, who battled with Naya as Glee co-stars, deleted her Twitter account all together over the weekend. Presumably, after fans bullied her. 

Kevin McHale and Amber Riley responded:

And another fan posted a reminder from Chris Colfer regarding the creepiness of fans inserting themselves into the grieving process.

 

About mj santilli 35171 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!
Website Instagram Twitter