Naya Rivera's Mother Yolanda Recalls the Devastating Moment She Learned Her Daughter Was Missing
Naya Rivera died in July 2020 in an accidental drowning, authorities discovering the actress' body [...]
Naya Rivera died in July 2020 in an accidental drowning, authorities discovering the actress' body five days after she had gone missing on July 8 while boating with her young son, Josey, on California's Lake Piru. Rivera's family reflected on their tragic loss in a new interview with Good Morning America to mark the one-year anniversary of Rivera's death, and one year after the actress' mom, Yolanda Previtire, saw her for the last time on a video call the morning Naya and Josey went boating on the lake.
"I missed two of her FaceTime calls, and I called her back. And we had a beautiful conversation. The sun was kissing her face and she was just beautiful," Yolanda recalled. "She had a white, beautiful swimming suit on and she was glowing." During the call, Yolanda took several screenshots, which ended up assisting authorities in their search for Naya and Josey. Yolanda shared that she was unable to take a clear screenshot of her daughter and told her that "the water's getting choppy," advising them to go to a cove as the water is often "a little bit calmer there." Before she hung up, she asked her daughter to call her when they were off the lake.
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Instead of hearing from Naya, Yolanda was visited by two detectives, who arrived at her house and told her that Josey was safe but Naya was missing. "It was almost like a force," Yolanda recalled. "I don't know what it was, but I literally was just pushed backwards. I just ran backwards, if you can imagine, just screaming and I ended up in the bathroom. I slammed the door, I was on the floor and I had to gather myself."
After spending the first few days of the search for Naya's body at the lake, Yolanda was unable to go on the last day of the search because of what she had been putting her body through. She asked for Josey to come to her house so she could make him pancakes, and that's when she got the call that her daughter's body had been found. Yolanda said that she wanted to thank everyone who helped in searching for Naya, sharing that they were "just overflowing with kindness" and that her family "really felt the love."
One year after Naya's death, Yolanda said that "there are no words to describe" what she and her family are going through, but "all we know is we have each other." She also encouraged Naya's fans to "love life," a reminder she gets from her daughter daily. "I feel Naya's energy constantly telling me, 'Mom, be happy. Don't cry. I'm OK. Go get Josey. Have fun.' And I feel that it's coming from her," she said. "I literally wake up every morning, and it's almost like a restart button, and I have to shake it off … one foot at a time. And here we are."