The Glee star was reported missing on July 8 after an outing to Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Rivera and her 4-year-old son, Josey Dorsey, rented a pontoon boat, and when the boat was overdue to be returned, staff found it with Josey wearing a life jacket, sleeping alone on board.
Five days after her disappearance, Naya Rivera was confirmed dead. She was 33.
"We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said in a news conference on July 13. "It has been an extremely difficult time for her family throughout this ordeal ... our hearts are with them and we share in their grief for Naya’s loss."
"[Josey] and Naya swam in the lake together," Ayub said. "It was during that time that her son described being helped onto the boat by Naya. ... He told investigators he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water."
Later, he added, "We believe that she mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself."
The California native started her Hollywood career at age 4, finding her first recurring role on the CBS sitcom The Royal Family. Rivera also made appearances on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters and The Bernie Mac Show. She played Santana Lopez on Glee and appeared in nearly every episode of the musical comedy's six seasons. Most recently, the actress starred in the series Step Up: High Water.
When we think of inventors, the image that comes to mind is usually that of a frazzled scientist toiling away in a lab, not celebrities pulled from the pages of Us Weekly. However, a number of well-known public figures hold patents for various innovations. Some are related to the work that made them famous, while others are offshoots of hobbies or just a single great idea.
Part of guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen's signature sound was his two-handed tapping technique, but letting all ten fingers fly while simultaneously holding up the guitar's neck could get a bit tricky. Van Halen came up with a novel way to get around this problem, though; he invented a support (top) that could flip out of the back of his axe's body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like "Eruption." While Van Halen was obviously interested in improving his guitar work, the patent application he filed in 1985 notes that the device would work with any stringed instrument. Want to tap out a scorching mandolin solo? Find someone selling Eddie's device.
It’s probably not surprising that James Cameron—who designed a submersible to take him to the deepest known part of the ocean—will often invent technology to make his films if what he needs doesn’t exist. He holds a number of patents, including US Patent No. 4996938, “apparatus for propelling a user in an underwater environment,” that he and his brother, Michael, created to film The Abyss and patented in 1989. The device is basically an underwater dolly equipped with propellers that makes it easy for a camera operator to maneuver in the water—and allowed Cameron to capture the shots he wanted for the 1989 film, part of which was filmed in an abandoned nuclear reactor.
In 1987 Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes. She hasn't profited from her idea yet, though, since she refuses to license the patent until diaper companies make biodegradable products.
You know him as a rock legend, but Neil Young also loves trains—so much that he owns a stake in a model train manufacturing company and has an extensive collection. He also holds seven patents related to model trains, including Patent No. US5441223, "Model train controller using electromagnetic field between track and ground."