Glee actress Naya Rivera missing near lake in southern California

Naya Rivera has gone missing near a lake in California.
Former Glee actress Naya Rivera has gone missing at a lake in Southern California. Credit: AP

Former Glee actress Naya Rivera has gone missing at a lake in Southern California.

A search operation was launched after her four-year-old son was reportedly found floating alone on a rented boat at Lake Piru. The search will resume “at first light” on Thursday, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said.

In a tweet which showed a video of a helicopter hovering over the lake, they said: "The missing person at Lake Piru has been identified as Naya Rivera, 33, of Los Angeles. SAR operation will continue at first light."

According to local reports quoting the sheriff's department, Nivera rented a boat at Lake Piru at about 1pm local time. The alarm was raised and a search operation launched using helicopters, drones and dive teams, police said. On Tuesday, Rivera tweeted a picture of her and the boy together, which was captioned: "Just the two of us." The 33-year-old actress earned significant success starring as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in the musical comedy series Glee.

The California-born star followed it up with her feature film debut in 2014 horror film At The Devil's Door. She later had a role in the Lifetime TV series Devious Maids.

Naya Rivera (pictured) rose to stardom for her role in the musical Glee. Credit: AP

Rivera was engaged to the rapper Big Sean in October 2013 but they ended their relationship in April 2014. She then began dating actor Ryan Dorsey and they got married in Mexico in July that year. The couple welcomed their first child, Josey Hollis, in September 2015. Rivera filed for a divorce after two years of marriage but later called off the separation. The couple finalised their divorce in June 2018. After news she was missing broke, Rivera's former Glee co-star Harry Shum Jr tweeted: "Praying."