Update 3:05 p.m. ET: Ventura County Sheriff’s Office officials are now calling the search for missing Glee star Naya Rivera a recovery effort, rather than a search and rescue.
“That hasn’t changed anything, and the efforts that we’re putting forth to locate her,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Dyer told CBSN Los Angeles. “It kind of changes the title in a sense. We’re presuming that an accident happened, and we’re presuming that she drowned in the lake.”
Previously 8:43 a.m. ET: Glee star Naya Rivera is missing after her 4-year-old son was found alone on a boat Wednesday evening in Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Eric Buschow told The Los Angeles Times that Rivera, 33, rented the boat around 1 p.m. PT to go swimming with her child, but the boy was later found sleeping alone on the boat by others on the lake. Authorities were able to confirm Rivera’s identity because her wallet, with identification, was still on the vessel.
“We’re going on the belief that she did go in the water, and we have not been able to locate her,” Buschow said on Wednesday. “So this may well be a case of drowning.” Buschow went on to report that Rivera’s son is “in good health.”
Per CNN, Rivera’s child told authorities that he and his mother went swimming, but she did not return to the boat. He was wearing a life vest, while an adult life jacket was reportedly found on the boat.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department shared video footage of their search and rescue operation at Lake Piru on Wednesday evening, which included a dive team, and said they will resume the effort “at first light” Thursday morning.
TV Guide has reached out to Rivera’s representatives and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department for further information and will update when available.