Home Care In Piru, CA

Ventura County Star

"Glee" actress Naya Rivera, 33, was presumed dead after she disappeared from a rented boat at Lake Piru Wednesday afternoon, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

She had arrived with her 4-year-old son Wednesday and rented a boat. Her son was found alone aboard the rental several hours later.

By Thursday morning, the effort to find Rivera had transitioned from a search and rescue to a recovery effort.

Despite the help of about 100 volunteers and public safety personnel from the sheriff's office, the U.S. Coast Guard and Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo and Tulare counties, Rivera's body had not been found by Thursday afternoon.

Divers and search-and-rescue crews scoured the land and water of the remote lake in northeast Ventura County while helicopters assisted from the air. They were also using sonar to help with their search.

Expert divers of the lake were on hand for the search, but authorities said Thursday there were a lot of trees and vegetation under water making the search difficult and dangerous.

Sheriff's officials also said there was no evidence of foul play or any indication of a suicide. They said they believe whatever happened was an accident of some sort. Authorities said Rivera had been to the lake in the past.

By Thursday evening, two German shepherds from the California Rescue Dog Association had been enlisted. They are trained to detect the gasses released by human cadavers, authorities said.

The dogs were expected to perform a methodical search along a grid of the lake to help divers locate the body. They were the latest addition to the team, which had taken a technical and methodical approach in the search for the actress.

Sheriff's Sgt. Bill Hutton said the K-9s were following a GPS grid much like other rescuers. The search was expected to go until nightfall.

The GPS data would be analyzed overnight and a new strategy will be formed by daybreak tomorrow, Hutton said.

Child found alone

Rivera had arrived at the lake around 1 p.m. Wednesday and rented a boat with son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, said Capt. Eric Buschow, a sheriff's spokesman. The child had been originally been identified as a 3-year-old girl.

On Thursday, sheriff's officials said Rivera had been overdue to return her boat, and a staff member went in search of her. The staff member discovered the child aboard alone at about 4 p.m.

Authorities found Rivera's car where she parked it on her arrival Wednesday. The child had been returned to the care of family, according to Buschow.

"He is safe with family members," Buschow said Wednesday.

Video showed Rivera arrived with her son and boarded the boat alone. When the boat was found it was not anchored.

Sheriff's officials said Thursday interviews with the child gave them no reason to believe his mother was on shore.

Search efforts

The physical search for Rivera had been suspended overnight for safety reasons, said Deputy Chris Dyer, a sheriff's spokesman.

"We are talking it is pitch black out here, and we don't want something else happening with our searchers so physical searching is stopped," he said. "However, the planning to optimize today continued through the night."

And so at daylight Thursday, search-and-rescue crews resumed their efforts to find Rivera, boarding boats to explore the north side of the lake, according to sheriff's officials.

Once a light fog burned off, a helicopter lifted off to assist in the operations. Deputies with the sheriff's major crimes unit were also on hand at the remote area.

Meanwhile, the lake was closed to the public though a handful of camera crews gathered in the parking lot at Lake Piru to track news of search efforts. Conditions at that point were bright and clear.

As helicopters hovered above, the dive boats focused their attention on the northern shoreline in an area of Lake Piru called Juan Fernandez Ramp.

A staging area on the lake's north end had been created for search and rescue crews. Drones from the Sheriff's Office were also being readied for the effort.

Drownings do happen at the lake from time to time, Dyer said.

"It's not so often because the lake has been low so that has affected attendance," he said. "When the lake is higher and it's hotter at the lake, drownings do happen."

By Wednesday evening Rivera was presumed drowned in the lake and the search had been launched to locate her body, according to Buschow.

Career highlights

Rivera is best known for her role as Santana Lopez in the Fox sitcom "Glee," which ran from 2009 to 2015. A Southern California native, Rivera was born and raised in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County, approximately 20 miles from Lake Piru.

She started her career in entertainment at age 4 as a child actress, with recurring roles on "Family Matters" and "The Royal Family," as well as small appearances on other shows like "Baywatch" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," according to IMDb, the online database.

Most recently, she starred at Collette Jones for three seasons of the YouTube Red series "Step Up: High Water," IMDb says.

In her personal life, Rivera was married to actor Ryan Dorsey from 2014 through 2018. Their son Josey was born in September 2015. Rivera published a memoir the following year titled "Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up."

Jeremy Childs is a breaking news and public safety reporter covering the night shift for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached by calling 805-437-0208 or emailing [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter @Jeremy_Childs.

As crews were getting the upper hand on a fire that broke out near the Santa Clara River bottom in Ventura County on Monday evening, another, bigger brush fire broke out, also along the river, near a community about 17 miles east.

As of 7 p.m., the newly dubbed Howe Fire was estimated to be about 40 acres, according to Ventura County Fire, and was burning in steep terrain south of the community of Piru. The fire department noted that there were high-tension power lines in the area and requested a second alarm response.

“A total of 140 firefighters are on scene or en route,” VCFD wrote in an X post. Video from the scene shows an air tanker dropping fire retardant on the flames, which appeared to be burning in dry brush within the hills.

As of 9:30 p.m., no structures appeared to be threatened due to the Howe Fire, and crews had made steady progress toward containment.

Just hours before the Howe Fire broke out, VCFD responded to a brush fire called the Maria Fire that was burning in the river bottom south of the city of Santa Paula, driven by onshore winds. This blaze prompted an evacuation warning for South Mountain Road, from the 12th Street Bridge east to the golf course. The warning has since been lifted.

Views of the fire from the Alert California cameras pointed toward the Maria Fire showed the plume of smoke spreading from around 3 p.m. until about 5 p.m. Then, just as the smoke began dwindling, the cameras spun around to show the larger, darker plume of smoke erupting from the Howe Fire at around 6 p.m.

VCFD said the Maria Fire was declared contained just before 7 p.m., estimated to be about 15 acres. However, in a 9:30 p.m. update, the fire department said the Maria Fire was at 60 acres and only 50% contained.

Evacuation warning lifted for brush fire in Santa Paula

Ventura County Star

A vegetation fire sparked along the Santa Clara River bottom in Santa Paula late afternoon June 16, and a second, more feisty fire started up the river near Piru around 6:20 p.m.

The Ventura County Fire Department responded to the Santa Paula brush fire in the area of South Palm Avenue and East Santa Maria Street shortly after 3:20 p.m., according to initial reports. The area is located near the Santa Paula Airport.

The Maria Fire, as it was dubbed, quickly reached 5 acres as of 4:15 p.m. Shortly before 6 p.m., the Santa Paula blaze reached about 15 acres, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

The estimated 140 firefighters made steady progress on the ground. All told, 52 units, including three helicopters and one dozer, were assigned to the incident at some point.

"Firefighters are making steady progress, with crews actively defending nearby structures," fire officials said on social media in the evening. "Helicopters are making targeted water drops on hot spots to support ground efforts."

As of 9:30 a.m. June 17, the Maria Fire had been clocked at about 60 acres with 60% containment, said Andrew Dowd, a county fire spokesman. About 30 firefighters remained on scene to mop up the effects of the blaze, he said.

One firefighter who suffered minor injuries was transported to a local hospital and was deemed in stable condition, Dowd said.

No structures were damaged or destroyed in either the Maria or the Howe fires, he said.

Howe Fire near Piru mapped at 34 acres

The Piru fire ignited near Torrey and Howe roads, and crews were pulled from the initial blaze to assist with the firefighting. Additional resources were called in from Los Angeles County, according to reports.

By 6:45 p.m., the so-called Howe Fire had spread to nearly 40 acres. County fire officials said the Howe fire was burning in steep terrain south of Piru and the Santa Clara River.

More crews and equipment were called to assist in Piru, including air tankers and additional helicopters. High-tension power lines were described as being in the area.

By 9:30 a.m. June 17, mapping showed the fire at 34 acres with 0% containment, Dowd said. The fire was surrounded, and about 150 firefighters would be working through the day to identify and mop up hotspots, he said.

Portions of Torrey Road and E. Guiberson Road were closed briefly but reopened by the morning of June 17, according to the county's emergency site.

An evacuation warning remained in effect June 17 for Zone 1, which extended south from E. Guiberson Road between Smith Canyon and Eureka Canyon roads.

Authorities lift evacuation warning

Because of mild onshore winds, smoke from the Maria Fire moved east toward Fillmore and Piru, according to the county's emergency site vcemergency.com.

The county's emergency website urged the public to "avoid the area while firefighting efforts remain underway." Smoke from the fire was expected to be visible throughout the afternoon, the site said.

An evacuation warning was issued for the south side of the Santa Clara River from the old Mountain View Golf Course north to 12th Street, according to vcemergency.com. A warning indicates residents should be prepared to leave, but a threat is not yet imminent.

By shortly after 7 p.m., the evacuation warning had been lifted. The fire was described as contained around the same time.

Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at [email protected].