Her four-year-old son, Josey, told investigators that his mother, boosted him back onto the deck of their rented boat before he looked back and saw her disappearing under the water. Josey Hollis Dorsey, was found asleep and alone in a life vest on the drifting pontoon boat but Rivera was not wearing a life vest.
Rivera played singing cheerleader Santana Lopez for six seasons from 2009 to 2015 in musical-comedy Glee. The 33-year-old rented the boat in the afternoon of July 8 at Lake Piru, northwest of Los Angeles. After news broke out about her disappearance, a massive search involving divers, patrol boats and helicopters was launched.
The actress was officially pronounced dead exactly seven years after the death of Rivera’s friend and former Glee co-star, Cory Monteith.