Authorities are considering all possibilities when it comes to the disappearance of Naya Rivera after she was reported missing following a boat ride on Lake Piru with her son Josey on Wednesday. As search teams continue to scour the area for signs of the actress, however, they announced that they do not believe foul play is involved.
Speaking with reporters Thursday during a press conference, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Captain Eric Buschow confirmed that “there’s no evidence of foul play at this point,” according to Us Weekly. He went on to explain that “there are no signs of foul play, there are no signs of anything wrong besides a tragic accident.” Buschow instead said that Rivera’s disappearance appears to “be a case of drowning.”
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During the press conference, authorities said that surveillance video from that day shows Rivera and her son being the only people in the parking lot and on the pontoon boat they had rented when it left the dock. After departing the shore, the boat made its way toward the north shore of the lake, though it failed to return. Rivera never made it back to shore and has not been seen alive since Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Kevin Donoghue said that as teams continued to search the lake, authorities were also checking her credit card statements “to make sure she hasn’t made any charges since her disappearance.” He said that “we have detectives who are investigating that aspect as well,” explaining that they are “checking her credit card statements making sure there are no charges anywhere.” However, Donoghue said, “based on the information we have so far, we are fairly confident the focus of our search being in the water.”
Although considering all possibilities when it comes to her disappearance, authorities now believe that Rivera died in a tragic drowning accident on the lake, which has seen a number of other drowning deaths. On Thursday, the missing person search for Rivera had changed to a recovery mission, with dive teams brought in from across a number of counties to search the lake, something that is said to be “complicated” due to the poor visibility and debris along the bottom.
The search for the actress was prompted Wednesday afternoon after Josey, 4, was found aboard the boat asleep. Josey was wearing a life vest, though a second adult-sized life vest was still aboard the boat, leading authorities to suspect that Rivera had entered the water without the flotation device. Josey told authorities that his mother had not returned to the boat after they went for a swim.
The initial search for Rivera on Wednesday was halted after approximately six hours at 10 p.m. PT due to darkness. It resumed Thursday morning, with nearly 100 people joining the efforts. Teams are searching by air, land, and water, with specialized dive teams brought in.
