In the continued search for Naya Rivera, police say “nothing came” of searching the cabins near Lake Piru, where the Glee actress disappeared on Wednesday after renting a boat with 4-year-old son Josey. Sunday, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office announced the search was ongoing, but that all evidence continues to suggest Rivera was the victim of a “tragic drowning.”
“In today’s search for Naya Rivera, cabins and outbuildings in the surrounding area will be checked once again, as well as the shoreline,” the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday. “This has been part of the ongoing search effort since her disappearance on Wednesday afternoon. Boat crews continue to scan the lake.”
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To PEOPLE, Sgt. Shannon King confirmed that the search of the cabins near the lake brought no new information. “They’re not occupied. Nothing came of it,” King said Sunday, adding that the focus of the investigation “was the shoreline.”
“They were just doing the shoreline to make sure nothing has changed. There were a lot of folks that were talking on social media about, ‘Oh, check the cabins. Maybe she’s there, maybe she’s hanging out,’” King said, explaining that because they had extra search and rescue personnel available Sunday, they “did go to a couple of the cabins that were on the north end of the lake, that’s all that’s out there, and nothing came of it.”
King added that at this point, authorities have no reason to believe Rivera ever left the water, saying, “There’s no evidence to say she left the water. It appears to be 100 percent just a tragic drowning.” Lake Piru’s “murky, cold” water has complicated the search for Rivera, he continued.
“The ground is covered in trees and shrubs, so it’s hampering our efforts for sure. So they have to go very slowly, so when they see the sonar vision coming back on their screen, the slower they go, the clearer it is,” King said. “The faster they go, the more elongated it becomes and harder to tell.” Investigators will continue to search the area “at least through Tuesday.”
Rivera was reported missing on July 9 when, hours after her boat rental was due, employees with the rental company discovered her son Josey sleeping alone on the pontoon while wearing his mother’s life jacket. He reportedly told police his mother went into the water to swim, but never returned to the boat with him.
