Naya Rivera faced a tragic death one year ago, and his Glee co-stars remembered her sweetly this year.
One year after Naya Rivera died, her Glee co-stars reunited over the weekend following her death anniversary.
Heather Morris, Kevin McHale, Chord Overstreet, and Jenna Ushkowitz reunited with the film’s writers, Michael Hitchcock and Matt Hodgson.
The 32-year-old Overstreet shared a sneak peek of the reunion, showing everyone as they posed in the silliest ways.
“Missed this crew so much!!!” he captioned the post. “So good to be back and get to see all you wonderful people!!”
Meanwhile, Morris — who played the role of Rivera’s best friend in the movie — shared a tribute to her during the anniversary of her death.
Per the 34-year-old actress, she found it hard to write a caption. Despite that, she assured that the late actress remains the brightest star in her eyes.
“I’m so grateful GOD LAYED A HAND and brought us together as best friends, mom friends, scene partners, and everything in between,” she said. “Your legacy lives on in kindness and being ‘that sassy queen’ in my eyes. I love you forever bebe girl.”
She also got a tattoo to permanently honor her. The ink read “Tomorrow is not promised” — the line Rivera shared days before her death.
What Happened to Rivera?
On July 8, Rivera went missing following a reported swimming accident. She, reportedly, rented a boat around 1:00 PM in Lake Piru, California. She was out with her 4-year-old son, who was found alone on the boat three hours later.
One day later, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department assumed her death as they continued to search for her body. During the extensive search and rescue operation, they used sonar equipment and a trained dog to locate her.
They also used helicopters and drones to find her body as soon as possible.
After a few days, the authorities found her body near the surface of a lake in Southern California. Her body was, reportedly, floating in the northeast corner of Lake Piru. No foul play or suicide was involved.
“The idea being that the boat started drifting — it was unanchored — and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back on to the boat, but not enough to save herself,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said during a press conference.
Fans and colleagues then shared saddening tributes following the confirmation of Naya Rivera’s death.
Featured image courtesy of Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons