Glee star Naya Rivera begged for help before she accidentally drowned while boating with her son in Lake Piru, according to reports released by authorities. The Ventura County Medical Examiner released an investigative report along with the standard autopsy report.
The report states that Rivera’s son Josey counted “1, 2, 3” and jumped off the boat together to swim. Shortly after, Rivera helped her 4-year-old son onto the boat. “She helped him onto the boat and he then heard Rivera yell 'help' and she put her arm in the air. She then disappeared into the water,” according to the report. He was found sleeping on the boat she rented that day along wearing a life vest.
The 33-year-old was “considered to be a good swimmer,” and a lake attendant said that she declined a life vest. The attendant gave her one anyway, and it was found in the boat along with Josey.
A toxicology investigation found that she had a small amount of prescription amphetamines in her system, but they were not named as a factor in her death. Rivera also had trace therapeutic amounts of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam and the appetite suppressant phentermine in her system. She had previously had problem with vertigo and had a recent sinus infection, the conclusion revealed, also stating that neither issue caused her death.
Her cause of death remains a drowning. Rivera’s body was located on July 13th, five days after her disappearance. In her memoir, she called Josey “my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him.”