Naya Rivera’s 4-year-old son, Josey, was found sleeping alone on a rented boat in Lake Piru on Wednesday, July 8, and is safe amid the search for his mom.
“He’s in good health,” Captain Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department told reporters of the Glee alum’s son. “The family is going through a very traumatic time right now.”
Josey, whose dad is Ryan Dorsey, was found wearing a life vest, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department told Us Weekly in a statement. “Another vest [was found] on board the boat for an adult, so it looks like [Rivera] was not wearing [hers].”
Buschow went on to tell Us, “The son said they were in the water swimming together. He came up and got back up on the boat, but she did not. He was found on the boat by a passerby. He was found fast asleep on the boat by himself.”
The actress’ family members came to the lake and picked up Josey while drone teams, a sheriff’s boat and a dive team conducted a search for the Grammy nominee from 4:38 p.m. to 10 p.m. While the search “was terminated … due to darkness,” it resumed with “additional divers and sonar equipment” the morning of Thursday, July 9.
“All indications point to [an accidental drowning],” Buschow told Us. “These big reservoirs, there is a lot that goes on. There are plenty of currents. People drown in California lakes every year.”
The singer’s former Glee costars have been sharing messages of hope in Rivera’s absence. “We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back home to us. We need your love and light,” Heather Morris wrote via Instagram, while Max Adler tweeted praying-hand emojis.
The California native’s last Instagram post was a photo of herself kissing her son. “Just the two of us,” Rivera, 33, captioned the Tuesday, July 7, selfie.
She and Dorsey, 36, welcomed their baby boy in 2015 and have been coparenting him since their 2018 divorce.
