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Search for missing 'Glee' actress Naya Rivera stretches into 4th day

The 33-year-old actress is presumed to have drowned after disappearing Wednesday at Lake Piru in California, where she had rented a boat with her son.
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Authorities are continuing their search for "Glee" actress Naya Rivera, who is presumed to have drowned after going missing Wednesday at a lake in California.

"The search for Naya Rivera continues at Lake Piru," the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter Saturday afternoon.

The search turned from a rescue effort to a recovery effort on Thursday, with more than 100 people from several agencies involved.

Authorities released a video Friday night of rescuers using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to search the lake.

"This is one of many resources being used, along with side scan sonar, dogs, and divers," the agency tweeted, also sharing a video clip of the footage obtained by the ROV at 30 feet deep to show how cloudy the water is.

Rivera, 33, had been boating with her 4-year-old son at the lake Wednesday afternoon when she went missing.

"The boat was found drifting in the northern portion of the lake with the child alone and asleep onboard," a sheriff's office statement read. "Rivera’s son told investigators that he and his mother had been swimming in the lake, and he got back in the boat, but Rivera did not."

Capt. Eric Buschow said an adult life vest was found on the boat.

"We're presuming that an accident happened and we're presuming that she drowned in the lake," said Deputy Chris Dyer, adding that there were no signs of foul play or of anything going wrong.

California authorities released security footage Friday showing that Rivera and her son were the only two people to board the rental boat he was later found alone on.

The footage shows Rivera and the 4-year-old boy park near Lake Piru, about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, walk to the docks and board a pontoon Wednesday afternoon.

A few hours later, the vendor who rented the pontoon to Rivera discovered the boy sleeping alone in the boat on the lake.

The initial search for Rivera was suspended at 10 p.m. Wednesday because of dangerous conditions. Authorities said the visibility in the water during the day was about eight to 10 inches and there was lots of debris and full-size trees under the water.

The shoreline and surface of the lake were also thoroughly searched, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said.

Rivera, from the Santa Clarita neighborhood of Valencia, is best known for playing Santana Lopez on Fox's "Glee," a musical and comedy about a high school glee club.

The show ended in 2015.

She was married to actor Ryan Dorsey, the boy's father, but the pair divorced after four years in 2018.