Naya Rivera, Glee singer and actress went missing in Lake Puru in Ventura County, California on Wednesday, July 8 during a boating trip with her four-year-old son.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department announced the disappearance on Wednesday night. 

KNBC reported that Rivera rented a boat at a reservoir on the lake with her son. Authorities were alerted when he was found asleep and alone on the boat wearing a life vest. 

The sheriff’s department began a search by boat and helicopter, but it was suspended for the night after finding nothing. 

The search on the lake resumed Thursday morning.

Law enforcement presumes it is a case of drowning, but with the early searches so far turning up nothing, everything is still in play. 

In a case where a person is missing, not knowing if they are still alive or not, the logical action is to search until they find the body. This has been done in the past with overhead helicopter lights, with boat lights, but not in Rivera’s case.

However, it seems that for search and rescue, this is standard procedure because searching at night is dangerous in murky waters.

Needless to say, it is a traumatizing time for a child whose mother went missing in the water as she went swimming and never resurfaced. 

Naya Rivera is an Afro-Latina actress of Puerto Rican descent who’s known for playing Santana, a cheerleader in the musical show Glee from 2009-2015. She is also a published author with three books, her latest in 2016, a memoir, called Sorry Not Sorry, where she details the missteps of her own career to inspire other aspiring young women to pursue their dreams.

Additionally, though the headlines are referring to Naya Rivera as an actress, an ex-girlfriend of Big Sean, or using her headline for their cover photo, it should be remembered that she is more than that. 

She is a mother, sister, daughter. She should also not be “presumed dead,” without a proper confirmation from officials.