Inside Naya Rivera's Life Before The Boating Accident

UPDATE: On July 13, 2020, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office confirmed Naya Rivera's body has been recovered at Lake Piru. In a press conference, Sheriff Bill Ayub said, "We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera."

The original story follows below.

Glee star Naya Rivera was reported missing on July 8, 2020 following a boat trip with her 4-year-old son Josey Hollis Dorsey, whom she shares with ex-husband and actor Ryan Dorsey. According to The Washington Post, authorities fear Rivera may have died in an accidental drowning after her child told officers that he and his mother went swimming together, but she never got back on the boat.

Newly-released surveillance video shows the actress and her son arriving at Lake Piru in Southern California, renting a boat, and then sailing off. This is the last known footage showing Rivera alive. Three hours later, Josey was found asleep alone on the platoon with Rivera nowhere in sight.

As details about Rivera's devastating disappearance continue to emerge, sources say she seemed "really happy" and "excited" about her life and future prior to the boating accident, per E! News. Here's what was going on in Rivera's life before the tragedy.

Sources told E! News that Naya Rivera was in a "really good place" in her personal life before the boating accident. "Probably the best I've ever seen her," one insider shared. "She finally had a great co-parenting system worked out, and she seemed genuinely really happy. She was excited for new beginnings this year."

The actress' son was her main priority, the source added; they "were incredibly close and had a very tight bond." The insider also explained the two often went on little adventures together, so their boating trip was nothing out of the ordinary. "They were always going on fun adventures together. She loved to take Josey places and explore with him," the source told E! News. "They were always doing something fun and loved to be outdoors."

"That child was her life," the source noted. "To say that he will be devastated if his mom never comes back is an understatement."

Even Rivera's last social media post before her tragic disappearance expressed the love she had for her child. "Just the two of us," she wrote in the Instagram caption of a photo of her cuddling Josey.

Naya Rivera, who rose to fame in the role of cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee, returned to TV in 2018 as high school administrator Colette Jones in Step Up: High Water. The actress was set to resume filming later this year after the show was picked up by Starz following its cancellation on YouTube.

She expressed her excitement via Instagram in May 2018, writing, "I cannot wait to start filming the new season of Step Up! We're going to bring it like never before!"

During a March 2019 interview with E! News, Rivera opened up about the role and why Step Up: High Water reminded her of her days on Glee. "It definitely feels like home and feels like how much fun I had on Glee," she said at the time. "Everyone is hilarious and is always just happy to be there and having a great time."

Rivera also told InStyle that she was excited about the opportunity to play a character that was "true to her age" as opposed to a high school student. "It was really refreshing to do that. It felt good," she said. "I get to explore different storylines and themes with playing someone who's older."

Rivera was just 33 years old at the time of her disappearance.

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