Glee star Naya Rivera ‘presumed dead’ after going missing during fishing trip with four-year-old son

Glee star Naya Rivera has sadly gone missing during a boat trip with her son, and authorities are now saying she is ‘presumed dead’.

The actor, who appeared from 2009 to 2015 on Glee as Santana Lopez, reportedly hired a boat with her four-year-old son Josey at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California.

The little boy was found asleep on the boat by authorities after a fellow boater raised the alarm.

Captain Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, told the media, "They were seen going out on the lake together in the early afternoon, and approximately three hours after they left the dock another boater out on the lake discovered the boat drifting with the [son] on board asleep.

"So they contacted the rangers and began an investigation and we've been actively searching for the mother since that time. We have both aerial search going on and our dive team as well.

"Indications are that we believe she did go in the lake. At this point it's still a search and that's what we know up to this point.

"The [son] said that she had been swimming with her mother and that she got back in the boat and [his] mum didn't.

"We know that the girl had a life vest on, there was another adult life vest found on the boat. It's somewhat challenging interviewing a three-year-old."

He added, "We're going on the belief that she did go in the water, and we've not been able to locate her. This may well be a case of drowning.

"This is a big reservoir, it's deep, these kinds of things happen. We don't know all the circumstances. Investigators are working on that, getting as much information as possible."

Before the tragedy, Naya shared a picture with her son on social media, writing ‘just the two of us’.

Our thoughts are with Naya’s family and friends at this difficult time.