The cast of Glee gathered on the shores of Lake Piru to mourn for their friend and former castmate Naya Rivera.
Rivera’s body was found at Lake Piru in California on Monday. The actress was reported missing on Wednesday, July 8 after the actor’s four-year old son, Josey, was found alone in a boat on the lake. A search and rescue operation was launched, and after days of searching the lake Rivera’s body was found by Ventura County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue dive team, victim of an apparent drowning accident. She was 33.
While family, friends, and former castmates were holding out hope for Rivera’s safe return, when the police announced a body had been found, Rivera’s castmates gathered at the lake, according to Variety. A photographer captured a powerful image of the actors holding hands on the shore of Lake Piru, offering a moving and poignant moment of support.
Rivera played Santana Lopez on the Fox musical-comedy Glee for six years, turning what was meant to be a minor character into a full-time cast member and an LGBTQ icon. Her body was found seven years after the death of another Glee cast member, Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson. He died in 2013 after suffering an accidental overdose.
The show’s cast took to social media to pay tribute to Rivera:
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