Naya Rivera’s last Instagram post was a tragic foreshadowing of her presumed death, as the Glee star’s caption made an eerie reference to an Eminem lyric from a song about a child who watched their mother sink to the bottom of a lake.
The actress is feared dead after renting a pontoon boat on Wednesday afternoon with her four-year-old son Josey on Lake Piru, which is 60 miles from Rivera’s LA home.
The little boy was was found alone on the boat and told officials that his 33-year-old mother had jumped into the water and never came back up.
On Tuesday, Rivera posted a photo of herself and Josey with the caption: ‘Just the two of us’.
Fans have pointed out the haunting similarity between her caption and the lyrics to Eminem’s song 97′ Bonnie & Clyde, where he raps about a child watching their mother sink to the bottom of a lake, following a custody battle with her former partner.
Naya Rivera’s last Instagram post was a tragic foreshadowing of her presumed death, as the Glee star’s caption made an eerie reference to an Eminem lyric from a song about a child who watched their mother sink to the bottom of a lake. On Tuesday, Rivera posted a photo of herself and Josey with the caption: ‘Just the two of us’
The actress is feared dead after renting a pontoon boat on Wednesday afternoon with her four-year-old son Josey on Lake Piru, which is 60 miles from Rivera’s LA home. The little boy was was found alone on the boat and told officials that his 33-year-old mother had jumped into the water and never came back up
Fans have pointed out the haunting similarity between her caption and the lyrics to Eminem’s song 97′ Bonnie & Clyde
Fans have also questioned whether she intended to drown herself and take her son with her.
Lyrics to Eminem’s song are: ‘Just the two of us / C’mon hai-hai, we goin’ to the beach / Grab a couple of toys and let da-da strap you in the car seat / Oh where’s mama? she’s takin a little nap in the trunk/ Oh that smell (whew!) da-da musta runned over a skunk
‘Now I know what you’re thinkin’, it’s kind of late to go swimmin’ / But you know your mama, she’s one of those type of women / That do crazy things, and if she don’t get her way, she’ll throw a fit
‘Don’t play with da-da’s toy knife, honey, let go of it (no!) / And don’t look so upset, why you actin’ bashful? / Don’t you want to help da-da build a sand castle? (yeah!)
‘And mama said she wants to show how far she can float
‘Da-da made a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake / Here, you want to help da-da tie a rope around this rock? (yeah!)
‘We’ll tie it to her footsie then we’ll roll her off the dock / Ready now, here we go, on the count of three dummies / One, two, free, wee! (whoosh)
‘There goes mama, spwashin’ in the wa-ta / No more fightin wit dad, no more restraining order / No more step-da-da, no more new brother/ Blow her kisses bye-bye, tell mama you love her (mommy!)’
Eminem’s song is about a child who watched their mother sink to the bottom of a lake following a custody battle with their former partner
This diagram shows where Naya Rivera and her son rented a boat on Lake Piru before the four-year-old was seen alone. The map in the top left shows the location of the lake in relation to Los Angeles where Rivera lives
Rivera shared custody of Josey with her ex-husband Ryan Dorsey, marrying on July 19, 2014 – which was originally Rivera’s wedding date with rapper Big Sean.
The couple welcomed Josey the following year but their relationship soured when they filed for divorce in 2016.
Although they called off the divorce, things took a turn for the worse again when Rivera was arrested on a domestic battery charge on Thanksgiving weekend in 2017.
Charges against Rivera were later dropped, but the couple eventually divorced and split custody of Josey.
Rivera’s presumed death comes among a string of heartbreaks and horrors surrounding the hit show, including Cory Monteith’s accidental drug overdose in 2013, Naya’s ex-boyfriend Mark Salling’s conviction for possession of child pornography and subsequent suicide in 2018 and recent rumours of unrest on-set.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department confirmed last night that it was conducting a search for Rivera, who starred as Santana Lopez in 113 episodes of the hit musical series from 2009 to 2015.
Rivera shared custody of Josey with her ex-husband Ryan Dorsey, marrying on July 19, 2014 – which was originally Rivera’s wedding date with rapper Big Sean.
Rivera was arrested on a domestic battery charge (pictured left) on Thanksgiving weekend in 2017 after being accused of striking Dorsey (pictured together right), who eventually asked for the prosecution not to go ahead
Divers and helicopters were scouring the reservoir until darkness fell but no trace of Rivera has been found and the search has now been halted until morning.
The discovery was made when another boater raised the alarm after seeing the vessel drifting. They approached it to find Josey on board, asleep, and Rivera nowhere to be found.
Josey was wearing his life-vest but an adult life-vest was found on the boat, suggesting Rivera was not wearing hers.
Four-year-old Josey later told investigators that he climbed back on the boat and his mother did not, but the circumstances are unclear and cops say it is ‘challenging’ to interrogate a toddler.
According to TMZ, the boy says his mother ‘jumped in the water and didn’t come back up’.
At least eight other people have drowned in the lake since 1994, including a father who died in 2008 after saving his daughter who’d fallen in to the water. He was able to get her back onto their boat before it drifted away and he died.
Demi Lovato was among the celebrities to hold out hope last night, asking her 87 million Instagram followers to ‘pray for Naya Rivera to be found safe and sound’.
Rivera’s former Glee co-star Heather Morris said: ‘We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back to us… we need your love and light.’
Naya Rivera in Glee (left) with Heather Morris and Diana Agron in 2009
Glee’s cast has suffered a number of tragedies (Pictured top row L-R: Chord Overstreet, Harry Shum Jr., Naya Rivera, Dianna Agron, Iqbal Theba, Heather Morris, Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch. Bottom row L-R: Kevin McHale, Mark Salling (floor), Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Cory Monteith, Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison in 2011)
Glee cast member Harry Shum Jr, who played Mike Chang, simply wrote ‘Praying’, while Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins) and Max Adler (David Karofsky) have also posted concerned messages on social media.
Rivera’s ex-fiancee Big Sean signaled his concern this morning by liking a series of tweets praying for her safety and demanding that the search for her should continue.
Zack Teperman, a publicist who said Rivera was ‘one of the first people I had the honor of working with’, said he was ‘in complete disbelief and shock right now’.
‘Was just messaging Naya a few weeks back. This can’t be true. Prayers for her little boy,’ he said last night.
Officials told NBC Los Angeles that Rivera’s disappearance was ‘considered to be a horrible accident’, saying there was no suspicion of foul play.
Authorities believe Rivera to be ‘presumed drowned,’ according to Captain Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. He told the Ventura County Star that authorities were searching for a body.
Reports say that some of Rivera’s possessions including a purse, wallet and food were found on the boat. Another purse is said to have been left in Rivera’s car, a Mercedes G-Wagon which was still in the parking lot.