{"id":65703,"date":"2020-08-03T02:31:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T02:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=65703"},"modified":"2020-08-03T02:31:21","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T02:31:21","slug":"naya-riveras-fans-hold-emotional-vigil-california-lake-actress-drowned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=65703","title":{"rendered":"Naya Rivera’s Fans Hold Emotional Vigil at California Lake Where Actress Drowned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans of\u00a0Naya Rivera\u00a0gathered to pay their respects to the late actress.<\/p>\n

Traveling to Lake Piru \u2014 where the\u00a0Glee<\/em>\u00a0star’s body was found on July 13, five days after she disappeared during a boating trip with her 4-year-old son \u2014 a group of fans held a vigil for Rivera on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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The vigil, organized by the online fan page\u00a0Naya\u2019s Army, was attended by mourners who came from California, where Lake Piru is located, as well as Oregon and Indiana, according to\u00a0CBS Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Photos from the vigil show white balloons, floral displays and works of art honoring Rivera, as well as a\u00a0rainbow flag\u00a0with the words \u201cThank you, Naya,\u201d written on it alongside many handwritten names \u2014 a nod to Rivera\u2019s role as\u00a0high school cheerleader Santana Lopez, a character beloved by many in the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

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Over the show’s six seasons, Santana evolved as she came to terms with her sexuality,\u00a0and after developing feelings for her best friend Brittany Pierce, played by Rivera\u2019s pal\u00a0Heather Morris, Santana came out in a 2011 episode.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWithout\u00a0Glee,<\/em>\u00a0I swear I would not be here. I would not be alive. That\u2019s just a fact,\u201d one fan said at the vigil, according to CBS Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAfter seeing them on TV, I was like it is okay to be different,\u201d said another fan.<\/p>\n

The memorial took place almost three weeks after Morris and other\u00a0Glee<\/em>\u00a0cast members\u00a0came together at the lake\u00a0to pay their respects. Rivera, 33, was\u00a0confirmed dead\u00a0on the same day.<\/p>\n

Rivera was reported missing on July 8, after her son Josey was\u00a0found alone\u00a0on a pontoon boat at the Southern California lake, where the pair had been swimming. After Josey was found, he told investigators that while he got back in the boat after they had been swimming,\u00a0she did not.<\/p>\n

A day later, authorities announced that Rivera was\u00a0presumed dead.<\/p>\n

On July 14, the Ventura County Medical Examiner announced that an autopsy had been conducted and revealed Rivera’s death was ruled an\u00a0accidental drowning.<\/p>\n

The star was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles on July 24, according to her death certificate, which was previously obtained by PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

The document, filed in Ventura County, California, confirmed that Rivera’s cause of death was “drowning” and states that she died within a matter of “[minutes].”<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n