On Wednesday, July 10 Naya Rivera and her four-year-old-son rented a pontoon boat at approximately 1 p.m. When they did not return it to the rental company three hours later, employees from the company went out to search for them.

During the search, they found Rivera’s son in the boat with his life jacket on. He told officials that him and his mom went swimming, and he got back in the boat, but she did not. 

On July 13, California authorities announced they were confident that the body recovered from Lake Piru was that of Naya Rivera. The extensive search took six days. 

Rivera was found in the northeastern portion of Lake Piru floating near the surface, according to Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub. He also mentioned he believed her body was in that area the entire time, but had been concealed by debris and shrubbery. 

Though there is no indication of foul play according to Ayub, the body has been taken to the medical examiner’s office where an autopsy is going to be performed.

Since then, there was a petition created to get more warning signs put up around the lake. It has received more than 32,000 signatures. Since the mid 90’s, nine people have gone missing in the murky waters of the lake. 

Rivera’s tragic accident is a consequence of not having signs, local residents said in a petition. 

“Lake Piru is a very deep lake with very bad whirlpools, people have been asking for years for the city to put up warning signs for swimmers. Locals of Ventura County don’t go to Lake Piru for this reason! Tourists have no idea what they’re getting into,” they wrote. 

Rivera is best known for her role on Glee as Santana. She represented the LGBTQ+ community during a time where there was still not a lot of representation 

Her family, her friends, and her coworkers have all shared their grief over the loss of a great person in their lives.