New details about Naya Rivera’s drowning accident have been revealed in her autopsy and investigative report. The Glee star was found dead in Lake Piru in Ventura County, California, on July 13, following a boating trip with her 4-year-old son, Josey, the week prior.
The Medical Examiner states that after Rivera helped her son back on to the boat, Josey “noticed the decedent put her arm up in the air and yelled ‘help.’ … The decedent then disappeared into the water.”
Albeit consistent with what was previously stated by authorities in the case of Rivera’s accidental drowning, it was not mentioned that she’d shouted for help. What’s more, the report describes the star was someone who “knew how to swim well.”
As the story goes, Rivera rented a pontoon boat to take out on the lake that day with her son, who was found sleeping alone on the boat by himself some three hours later. Josey told authorities he’d last seen his mother go underwater, as previous reports indicate Rivera “mustered enough energy” to save her son before she died. According to the man she rented the boat from, Rivera declined a life vest, though he put one aboard anyway.
The report also showed Rivera had previous issues with vertigo, a recent sinus infection, and a small amount of prescribed amphetamines in her system. Additionally, toxicology tests also showed she had small, therapeutic amounts of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam and the appetite suppressant phentermine in her system. Neither her physical conditions nor drugs were not listed as factors in her death.
Five days after being reported missing, Rivera’s body was recovered in an area of the lake said to be roughly 30 feet deep.
Rivera is the latest Glee cast member to pass away after Mark Salling, 35, took his life in 2018 and Cory Monteith, 31, died of an overdose in 2013.
