Naya Rivera’s Dad Had a ‘Bad Feeling’ About His Daughter, 33, Going on the Boat

Naya Rivera‘s father, George Rivera, just opened up to People Magazine about his final Facetime call with his daughter, hours before the 33-year-old died.

Naya Rivera called her dad right as she took the boat out.

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The actress was on a lake with her son Josey, who was 4 at the time, on July 8th, 2020, when she Facetimed her dad. He explained to People that this was normal for the two of them as, “She would always bounce stuff off me, and she wanted to go swimming with Josey out in the middle of the lake.”

As George is familiar with boating, Naya Rivera wanted to check in with him before heading out. But when she told him the boat did not have an anchor, George began to rightfully worry for his daughter.

He tried to make sure she stayed safe, recalling, “I could see that the wind was blowing and my stomach was just cringing. I kept telling her, ‘Don’t get out of the boat! Don’t get out of the boat! It will drift away when you’re in the water.'”

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However, the call cut out after just three minutes.

George was left staring at an afterimage of his daughter in sunglasses and a baseball cap, excited to take the boat out. “It was just heartbreaking,” he continued. “I had this bad feeling that was just killing me.” 

Josey was found alone within hours of the call. Naya’s body was discovered five days later in a secluded section of the lake.

As the first anniversery of her death approaches, George is still understandably lost in grief. “It’s still pretty much a big blur of pain almost a year later. Things are slowly coming a little more into focus, but I don’t know if I’ll ever find closure from this. I miss her every day.”