Glee star Naya Rivera went missing on Wednesday, July 8, after renting a boat at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California with her four year old son. After she did not return the boat to the renal station, workers found it at the north end of the lake, with her four year old son was asleep inside. Rivera's life jacket and purse were found on the boat but she was nowhere to be found, and her son told officers that the two had gone swimming, but his mother never got back in the boat.
Several of her Glee co-stars showed support on social media and prayers for her safe return. This included Heather Morris.
Morris Offers To Help Police
Morris replied to a tweet made by the Ventura Sheriff Twitter account.
Morris starred alongside Rivera in all six seasons of Glee. They played Brittany and Santana, respectively, and their characters were married in the show's sixth season as part of one of the most iconic TV weddings of the 2000s. Morris also said that she would call the department in addition to her tweet.
The Search's Resources Have Been Limited
The search for Rivera began with around 100 divers and searchers. On Friday, that number was reduced to around 40 due to difficult diving conditions. Variety reported on a press conference in which Sheriff's Captain Eric Buschow addressed these setbacks.
"The search is being conducted using sonar devices," Buschow said, "We don't know if she's going to be found five minutes from now or five days from now."
He continued, "The visibility underwater is limited to about one to two feet, and divers had been blindly using their hands to try to locate her body." Buschow said that the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department team had spotted some promising images on the sonar device, and sent an underwater robot to look further. "But that did not pan out, and the search continues."
The Ventura Sheriff's Twitter did not directly respond to Morris publicly, but the account did tweet a message strongly discouraging people from searching for Rivera on their own.
The search for Rivera continues. The search party will check cabins and outbuildings in the surrounding area as continuing to search the lake itself.
