Disappearance of Naya Rivera

Overview

The Disappearance of Naya Rivera occurred on July 8th, 2020 at Lake Piru in Los Angeles, California. That day, Rivera, an actor known for her appearances on the television series Glee, took a boat onto Lake Piru. Her four-year-old son was found hours later drifting in the lake. Investigators believe she drowned.

Background

On July 8th, 2020, Naya Rivera reportedly rented a boat and took the vessel onto Lake Piru with her son that afternoon. Several hours later, an employee from the boat renter found her son in the boat without Rivera. Her son said, "that he and his mother had been swimming in the lake, and he got back in the boat, but Rivera did not."^[1]

According to the Incident Report:

Approximately 50 sheriff’s personnel, along with a helicopter, boat crews, divers, and unmanned aerial vehicles searched the lake for five hours Wednesday evening, but Rivera could not be found. The entire shoreline and surface of the lake were thoroughly searched. Divers also searched under water in the area where the boat had last been seen. However, there was no sign of Rivera. The search was suspended at 10:00 pm Wednesday night due to zero visibility in the water and dangerous conditions for the divers.

The search resumed Thursday morning with divers experiencing less than one foot of visibility in the water in daylight. The difficult conditions have made the recovery operation a very slow process. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is assisting in the search with divers and sonar equipment. Approximately 100 personnel are participating in the mission on Thursday, including resources from neighboring counties and the United States Coast Guard.

Investigators believe Rivera drowned in what appears to be a tragic accident.

Developments

Online Reaction

That day, the Ventura County Sheriff's Twitter^[2] user @VENTURASHERIFF tweeted, "Happening now: Search for possible drowning victim at Lake Piru. @VCAirUnit @fillmoresheriff on scene. SAR Dive Team and PIO on the way." The tweet received more than 10,000 likes and 2,300 retweets in less than two days (shown below).

That day, the account published a video the search effort, confirming the identity of the missing person as Naya Rivera. The post received more than 4.4 million views, 20,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in less than two days (shown below).

The missing person at Lake Puru has been identified as Naya Rivera, 33, of Los Angeles. SAR operation will continue at first light. VCAirUnit</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/fillmoresheriff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">fillmoresheriff @Cal_OES pic.twitter.com/bC3qaZS3Ra

— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 9, 2020

The following day, The Ventura County Sherrif's Office released surveillance footage of Rivera and her son departing the dock with a pontoon boat. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 942,000 views (shown below).

Over the next few days, discussion of Rivera's disappearance continued. Many called for her to be found and posted updates about the investigation (examples below).

On July 9th, Redditor^[5] imeccabletim shared the news on the /r/television subreddit. The post received more than 10,000 points (97% upvoted) and 1,700 comments in less than two days.

Conspiracy Theories

Following Rivera's disappearance, some online began devising unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the incident. For example, Twitter^[3] user @sidraAhg shared a theory that Rivera had been kidnapped (shown below, left). Twitter^[4] user @covfefe_kate suggested a connection to the QAnon conspiracy theory (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References