Naya Rivera’s Presumed Drowning Leads To Outcry For More Safety Precautions At Lake Piru

This story becomes more tragic by the moment.

We’ve all been holding our breath waiting for news regarding Naya Rivera’s disappearance. Although the outcome seemed grim from the start, it felt surreal to attach the words “presumed dead” to the young actress. We’ve held out hope the police would at least be able to provide answers for her family — but now, the Ventura County Sheriff’s department has warned that that may never even find her body due to the conditions at Lake Piru.

If trained professionals can’t even conduct a thorough search of the water safely, you may be wondering why helpless tourists would ever be allowed to swim there. Well, you’re not alone. One of the tweets that went viral in the wake of Rivera’s disappearance was from someone who claimed their cousin died in the lake years ago. They wrote:

“Please never come to lake piru to swim!! I lost my prima at an extremely young age while she went out for a swim when a sudden whirlpool dragged her 6 feet under. For years our family has been asking to have signs be put up warning visitors about these waters.”

Please never come to lake piru to swim!! I lost my prima at an extremely young age while she went out for a swim when a sudden whirlpool dragged her 6 feet under. For years our family has been asking to have signs be put up warning visitors about these waters. https://t.co/pIubC74Mhk

— Spooky Spice????????‍♀️ BLM (@skelingtonn) July 9, 2020

With the 33-year old presumed to have drowned, that makes a total of nine deaths at the lake since 1994, according to TMZ. People dredged up an old LA Times report that said “Lake Piru’s parks and recreation services manager at the time … counted about a dozen drownings during his 23 years there.”

Understandably, locals and outsiders alike are frustrated and outraged at the lack of precautions that could have prevented this tragedy from occurring. A petition has sprung up for the lake to post signs warning against swimming, which at this writing has more than 19,700 signatures. The petition reads:

“Naya Rivera is not the first, nor the last to go missing at Lake Piru. Lake Piru is a very deep lake with very bad whirlpools, people have been asking for years for the city to put up warning signs for swimmers. Locals of Ventura County don’t go to Lake Piru for this reason! Tourist have no idea what they’re getting into. Lake Piru needs signs. We’re tired of waiting. We need justice for all those who got lost at Lake Piru. Put up the signs.”

It’s heartbreaking to think that the loss of Naya Rivera could have been avoided if only there were appropriate precautions in place. It’s perhaps even more heartbreaking to think that it will take a high-profile celebrity case for these changes to finally be enacted, when so many other innocent lives were lost needlessly before this. We can only hope that something positive comes out of this senseless tragedy.

We continue to keep Naya and her family in our thoughts.

[Image via WENN, Instar & Avalon]