Naya Rivera 1st Death Anniversary: How Is Son Josey Coping? 'Glee' Star's Dad Details 'Tough' Situation
The late Naya Rivera's father, George Rivera, gets candid as he opens up about his family's situation following the devastating death of his daughter.
In an emotional interview with Entertainment Tonight, George Rivera shares how his family is coping with the situation. He told the host, Kevin Fraizer, that his grandson, Josey, has been very strong in handling his mother's death.
Rivera also commended Ryan Dorsey, Josey's father, and Nickayla Rivera, his daughter, for doing a great job in raising the actress' son.
"Tough situation, especially because he was there" he told Fraizer, "it's not like you're talking about a ghost that's floating around, right? He's got memories as well, but boy is he coming around, right? Really strong kid." he added.
He also explained that his family has been treating the kid as a 5-year-old, and they're not stopping him if he wants to talk about his mother. "He's growing up and handling it really well." he went on.
Prior to the recent interview, George Rivera had opened up his last FaceTime call with his daughter moments before she went died. On the afternoon of July 8, the actress had called Rivera asking for advice.
He stated that his daughter wanted to swim with Josey in the middle of the lake, and he kept on telling her not to get out of the boat because it will drift away if there are no people inside.
He also added that his bad feeling was "killing" him. Following their final call, the devastating news came.
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Naya Rivera's Tragic Death
According to early reports, Naya Rivera rented a boat in Lake Piru, California, with Josey. Three hours later, tourists who were also in the area had noticed a drifting boat on the north side of the lake with a sleeping child inside.
Authorities had a hard time talking to the kid as he only stated that his mother could not get back on the boat.
There were over 80 people involved in the search for the actress' body and the lake was closed to the public. Divers who took part in the search operation also had a hard time finding her as the water in the lake was described to be murky.
Then on July 13, her body was finally found, five days after her disappearance. Her body was laid to rest later that month, and her death certificate declared that she "died within minutes" of drowning and no other reasons had contributed to her death.
