Naya Rivera tragically passed away last July after drowning while on a boating trip with her young son Josey at Lake Piru, just outside of Los Angeles.
And now her father George, 64, has revealed that his daughter FaceTimed him shortly before her death to seek his advice on whether it was safe to swim.
‘She would always bounce stuff off me,’ George told People magazine. ‘And she wanted to go swimming with Josey out in the middle of the lake.’
Devastating: Naya Rivera tragically passed away last July after drowning while on a boating trip with her young son Josey. Her father George recently revealed that she FaceTimed him before her death to ask if it was safe to swim; seen in 2019
After Naya told him that the boat did not have an anchor, George said he strongly cautioned her against going for a swim.
During the call, George, who has boating experience, realized that the conditions at were not safe. ‘I could see that the wind was blowing and my stomach was just cringing,’ George said.
‘I kept telling her, “Don’t get out of the boat! Don’t get out of the boat! It will drift away when you’re in the water.”’
Sad: After Naya told him that the boat did not have an anchor, George said he strongly cautioned her against going for a swim
George said that their call dropped after about three minutes and his instincts were telling him that something was wrong.
‘It was just heartbreaking,’ he told People. ‘I had this bad feeling that was just killing me.’
A few hours later, Josey, who was four at the time, was found sleeping alone with his life jacket on in the pontoon boat. The Glee actress was declared a missing person on July 8, the day of their excursion.
The following day, the Ventura Country Sheriff’s department confirmed that the rescue search had turned into a recovery effort. George, Naya’s mother Yolanda, her stepfather Charles Previtire, her brother Mychal, her ex-husband Ryan Dorsey and Glee co-star and friend Heather Morris all took part in the search.
Tragic: A few hours after Naya’s FaceTime call with George, Josey, who was four at the time, was found sleeping alone with his life jacket on in the pontoon boat and his mother was missing
Naya’s body was recovered on July 13 and the autopsy concluded that the actress had died of accidental drowning. During their outing, Naya and Josey went for a swim. He told police that she was not wearing a life jacket at the time. Josey said that she was able to help him climb back in the boat but could not get herself in before she disappeared under the water.
‘It’s still pretty much a big blur of pain almost a year later,’ George said, while struggling not to cry. ‘Things are slowly coming a little more into focus, but I don’t know if I’ll ever find closure from this. I miss her every day.’
Naya began acting at the age of four but her big breakthrough came in 2009 when she was cast as cheerleader Santana Lopez in Fox’s hit show Glee. She was married to Dorsey, 37, from 2014 to 2018. She gave birth to Josey in September 2015.
Heartbreaking: Josey said that his mother was able to help him climb back in the boat but could not get herself in before she disappeared under the water
In December 2020, a source told People, ‘Ryan is very much about keeping Naya’s memory alive. He often tells Josey, “Mommy would have liked that.”‘
This past Mother’s Day, Dorsey posted a sweet tribute to Naya on his Instagram page. He shared a photo of Naya and Josey smiling in front of a bowl of ice cream.
‘We can’t say the word happy but we’ll say thank you for being a mother & giving me this sweet amazing boy. #mothersday,’ he captioned the post, adding red and black hearts emojis.
Honoring Naya: This past Mother’s Day, Dorsey posted a sweet tribute to Naya on his Instagram page. He shared a photo of Naya and Josey smiling in front of a bowl of ice cream
Remembering her: In December 2020, a source told People, ‘Ryan is very much about keeping Naya’s memory alive. He often tells Josey, “Mommy would have liked that”‘