Naya Rivera death: New details on search for Glee star revealed

The captain who led the search for Naya Rivera has revealed new details about the operation to find her and how he helped her family get closure.

Naya Rivera’s family will always be able to go back to the spot she was found to remember her.

Captain Jeremy Paris, who led the search to find the Glee star, said officials took her family out to the spot where her body was discovered on Lake Piru in California on Monday after she disappeared five days earlier.

Mr Paris said he hoped the family could find some comfort in the fact the 33-year-old’s body had been found.

“We did make an effort to make sure the family got to go out and see exactly where she was found so in the future they’ll be able to memorialise her, remember her, in any way they see fit in the future,” he told ET.

RELATED: Glee star Naya Rivera’s life

Divers and Ventura County Sheriffs on boats on Lake Piru, California, where Naya Rivera’s body was found. Picture: Frederic Brown/AFP

Rivera had taken her son Josey out for a boat trip. Picture: Chris Delmas/AFP

An autopsy found the actress’ cause of death was accidental drowning.

Her body was located in the same area where she went missing.

Rivera’s four-year-old son Josey told investigators his mother boosted him on to their rented boat after they had been swimming together before she “disappeared”.

Mr Paris said he met Josey and had since heard from the family he was doing OK.

“I think he was still in a state of kind of not sure what happened,” he told ET.

“He did not come out to the scene afterwards which was probably best.”

Cast members of Glee and friends comfort each other at Lake Piru. Picture: Al Seib/ Getty Images

Rivera was a popular character on Glee

Police believe Rivera “mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat but not enough to save herself”.

The boat rental company went searching for the pair when Rivera didn’t return the vessel on time, and discovered Josey asleep and adrift on-board.

Mr Paris said Josey was wearing a lifejacket and had his mother been wearing one it would have increased her chances of survival.

“There’s different kinds of conditions, you know, when it’s windy and choppy, it’s probably not a good idea to swim,” he told ET.

“I’ll tell you this, that lake hasn’t had an accidental drowning since 2010, which is fairly rare. That’s a pretty good safety record. Unfortunately, it turned out bad this time.”

Mr Paris shut down reports Rivera became caught in a rip, saying the lake doesn’t get any.

He said boats drifted away from currents driven by the wind, which they believe is what happened.

But Mr Paris said they would probably never know why Rivera was not able to get back on to the boat herself.

Rivera’s former Glee co-star and close friend Heather Morris today posted a heartbreaking tribute, describing their “beautiful friendship built out of love and understanding.”

Morris played Rivera’s girlfriend and eventual wife on the hit TV show, and the pair stayed close friends in real life after the show wrapped.

In a touching tribute, Morris shared pictures of their children playing together, writing that “We never took photos together because we mutually hated taking pictures … our relationship meant more than proof. I have countless pictures of our babies playing, because we shared that kind of pride and joy.”