Overwhelming support pours in from Glee co-stars and fans across the globe after Naya Rivera’s body was finally recovered from Lake Piru.
Gleeks all over the world were devastated after hearing about the passing of Naya Rivera, who played the salty Cheerios’ Santana Lopez with mighty vocals and equally powerful dance moves.
News of the Glee star’s disappearance first surfaced on July 8th, hours after she rented a pontoon at Lake Piru just outside of Los Angeles with her 4-year-old son.
A leasing agent went out to look for the craft after it wasn’t returned at the scheduled time and found Naya’s son Josey asleep on the boat by himself.
Authorities called for a search-and-rescue which quickly became a search-and-recovery and found Rivera’s body near the surface of the lake 5 days later. The recovery mission was described as a “Braille search” due to the visibility in the lake being so low that the divers had to rely on mostly touch.
Naya Rivera’s body was found today in Lake Piru.
We ask our followers to join us in honoring and remembering Naya as a mother, a friend and a captivating performer, best known for playing Santana on Glee, where she inspired millions in an iconic Latin, LGBTQ+ role. pic.twitter.com/FaM9M52rPe
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 13, 2020
Another sad day for the Glee Club
Naya was well-loved by her fellow cast members both on and off-screen. Glee co-stars honored her memory and celebrated profound moments of her life on social media, shortly after receiving news that her body had been recovered.
Chris Colfer—who played the role of Kurt Hummel on Glee—shared a photo of himself and Rivera on Instagram, with the following caption:
“How can you convey all your love and respect for someone in one post? How can you summarize a decade of friendship and laughter with words alone? If you were friends with Naya Rivera, you simply can’t. Her brilliance and humor were unmatched. Her beauty and talent were otherworldly.”
Chris Colfer posts a touching tribute to his “GLEE” co-star and longtime friend, Naya Rivera 🕊🤍 pic.twitter.com/qQajn66Itj
— The AHS Zone (@ahszone) July 13, 2020
Jane Lynch—Glee’s cheer squad coach Sue Sylvester—also expressed her heartbreak over the loss of one of her beloved Cheerios on Twitter, saying “Rest sweet, Naya. What a force you were. Love and peace to your family.”
Jane was also seen retweeting her niece’s Instagram post:
I hope my lovely niece @Meg_Doyle won’t mind my sharing her Insta post. This was @NayaRivera pic.twitter.com/kbdgZeakqT
— Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) July 14, 2020
The Naya Rivera Army
Naya was celebrated by a lot of people for her representation being a lesbian Latina on the show. The public voiced their appreciation for Rivera and the impact she had on their lives with her Glee character Santana Lopez being among the first POC and LGBTQ+ characters they’ve watched onscreen.
A candlelight vigil at Lake Piru was also brought together by long-time fans—the Naya Rivera Army—to be held on August 1st.
It’s a little far away mostly to give people that are traveling, time to take off work and be able to be a part of this. Time is at 5 since it gets hot but doesn’t mean you can’t be there before. I hope many of you can make it! Share it to those you think might want to go! pic.twitter.com/gXfEh1sBIh
— NayaRiveraArmy (@NAYAarmy) July 16, 2020
The world sends love and light to Naya Rivera’s family as they mourn the loss of their “sassy angel” during this unimaginably difficult time.
Featured image courtesy of Glee/Twitter