'Glee' Creators Starting College Fund for Naya Rivera’s Son | 22 Words

This week, it was confirmed that Glee actress, Naya Rivera, had tragically drowned after her 4-year-old son was found alone on a boat she had hired.

The tributes have been flooding in ever since, but now, the creators of the show that catapulted the actress to stardom, have come forward with an incredibly generous offer for her son.

Keep scrolling for the full story...

Last week, we woke to the tragic news of Naya Rivera's disappearance.

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 The thirty-three-year-old actress was confirmed as missing, with officials presuming her dead. This week, a body was found and, yesterday, it was tragically confirmed to be that of Rivera's.

It is utterly tragic news...

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 And, to make this situation even worse, her 4-year-old son, Josey, was found alone at the scene of her disappearance.

Most of you will recognize Rivera from her role in the hit 2009 musical series, Glee.

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 The actress portrayed the role of the sharp-witted cheerleader, Santana Lopez.

Santana, who initially came across as cold-hearted and vicious, became a prominent character in the series...

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 And she went on to appear in most episodes across all of the 6 seasons.

Following on from her Glee success, Rivera ventured into the world of music.

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 In 2011, it was announced that the actress had signed a deal with Colombia Records to produce a solo album, and her debut single, "Sorry" featured the rapper, Big Sean, who she went on to have a brief romance with.

Sadly, her music career never really took off...

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 So instead, Rivera resorted back to her skills as an actress and went on to appear in a handful of different movies and TV series, including At The Devil's Door and Devious Maids.

But, in more recent years, Rivera had been focusing on something else...

With her now ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, Rivera had a son, Josey, in 2015, and he had been the apple of her eye ever since.

Despite her divorce from Josey's father in 2018, Rivera had agreed to joint custody...

And she threw herself into motherhood, devoting most of her time to raising her son.

Just one day before her disappearance, the actress posted this photo.

The post showed a tender moment between her and her son, alongside the caption, "Just the two of us." Her 1.9 million followers immediately praised the sweet mother-son moment, and it only spurred the feeling of desperation further.

However, just hours after her heartwarming post, tragedy struck.

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 While out vacationing with Josey along California's Lake Piru, Rivera went missing.

The actress had rented a pontoon boat on Wednesday afternoon...

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 But, 3 hours later, another boater raised the alarm after seeing the vessel drifting and Josey sleeping alone on board. The child was reportedly unharmed.

Upon arrival, the police found Rivera's car parked nearby...

via: KCal9

 And her lifejacket still onboard the boat.

It was assumed that Rivera and her son had been swimming in the lake...

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 The police since confirmed that "this may well be a case of drowning."

Divers and helicopters were scouring the reservoir until darkness fell...

But at that point, no trace of Rivera was found.

The search proved to be difficult.

via: KCal9

 “There’s a lot of challenges in a reservoir this size, at times with visibility," Captain Eric Buschow, of the sheriff’s department, said on Thursday. “I don’t have details yet as to the depth of the area where the boat was found or what conditions they’re encountering out there."

Since the news broke, horrified and heartbroken fans took to social media to pay tribute...

Twitter users expressed their shock over the incident, and many can't even begin to imagine what her poor child must be going through.

Further details about her child's experience were released shortly afterward...

And it was utterly horrifying.

Josey's chilling words upon his rescue were released on Thursday, hours after her disappearance.

According to TMZ, Rivera’s son had told the authorities that his mom had "jumped into the water but didn't come back up."

Yesterday, a body was found...

And a press conference confirmed that the body, which was found floating in the lake following a 6-day search, was that of Naya Rivera's.

And, according to reports, Rivera's autopsy is already complete.

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 Officials say that she died by drowning. They also said: "There is no indication from the investigation or examination that drugs or alcohol played a role in the decedent’s death, but specimens will be submitted for toxicology testing."

Shortly following from the tragic discovery, Rivera's fellow Glee cast members joined together at Lake Piru in remembrance of their friends.

And, to make this photograph even more heartwrenching, the day in which her body was found was the 7th anniversary of the death of Cory Monteith.

Monteith, who played the lead role of Finn on the series, tragically died on July 13th, 2013.

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 Aged thirty-one, the actor was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room after accidentally overdosing on a mixture of alcohol and heroin.

The coincidence of these dates is simply staggering.

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 The pair were firm friends, so for her body to be found exactly 7 years on from his untimely death is incredibly eerie.

Their Glee costar, Kevin McHale, weighed in on the coincidence...

He shared a video of Monteith and Rivera greeting fans alongside the caption: "I'm not religious by any means, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that Cory didn't help find our girl today. These 2, in many ways, were the male and female versions of one another. So nice, cared deeply, were stupidly talented, the most fun, and really really good people."

And now, the show's creators have weighed in on the devastating situation...

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 And they have announced that they will be taking care of little Josey's future.

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan yesterday announced their plans to set up a college fund for Josey.

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 In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, they said: "The 3 of us are currently in the process of creating a college fund for the beautiful son Naya loved most of all."

They also took a moment to remember Rivera in their statement.

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 "Naya could act, she could dance, and she could sing (could she ever sing!) She could nail a joke as well as she could crush you with an emotional scene. She could move between being scary tough and deeply vulnerable with ease. She was a joy to write for, a joy to direct and a joy to be around."

Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Naya Rivera at this unimaginable time.

R.I.P. 2020 has been an incredibly tough year so far. For tributes to all the celebs we have sadly lost this year, scroll on..