Naya Rivera’s former co-star, Heather Morris, is asking for prayers after the Glee actress was reported missing and “presumed dead” following a swimming accident Wednesday. Morris and Rivera starred as Brittany and Santana on the hit Ryan Murphy show, who wed in Season 6 after dating on and off throughout the years.
“We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back home to us,” Morris wrote on her Instagram Story Wednesday after news broke that Rivera’s 4-year-old son, Josey, was found alone in a boat wearing his mom’s life jacket hours after the mother-son pair rented a boat on Lake Piru in Ventura County. “We need your love and light.”
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Demi Lovato, who had a brief role as Dani on Glee, who acted as a love interest for Rivera, also posted in her Instagram Stories, sharing a photo of a lit candle, writing: “Please pray for [Naya Rivera] to be found safe and sound.” Harry Shum Jr., who played Mike Chang on Glee, also sent a message, tweeting, “Praying,” while Iqbal Theba, who played Principal Figgins on the show, retweeted a news story about Rivera, writing, “Oh God… mercy… please…”
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department told CBSLA that Rivera and her son rented a boat at around 1 p.m. Wednesday at Lake Piru in the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California. About three hours later, another boater discovered her son in the boat by himself, wearing Rivera’s life vest. TMZ reported that Josey told authorities he and his mom went in for a swim, but never came back up or returned to the boat.
Authorities immediately launched a search with helicopters, divers and drones, which resumed Thursday morning after it was suspended overnight. Rivera has yet to be found, and police reportedly believe the actress to be dead. “There’s a lot of challenges in a reservoir this size, at times with visibility,” sheriff’s Capt. Eric Buschow told CBSLA of the ongoing search. “I don’t have details yet as to the depth of the area where the boat was found or what conditions they’re encountering out there.”
Authorities were working Wednesday to reunite Josey immediately with family as the search continues. The 4-year-old’s father is actor Ryan Dorsey, to whom Rivera was married for four years until they finalized their divorce in June 2018. In her 2016 memoir, “Sorry Not Sorry,” Rivera called her son her “greatest success,” and her most recent tweet came Tuesday when she shared a photo snuggling her boy with the caption, “Just the two of us.”
