Naya Rivera’s ex-husband Ryan Dorsey paid an emotional tribute to the late star on Thursday, January 12, on what would have been her 36th birthday.
Glee star Rivera accidentally drowned on July 8, 2020 at the age of 33 while boating on Lake Piru, California with the former couple’s then four-year-old son, Josey.
Dorsey, 39, who was married to Rivera from 2014 to 2018, shared poignant photos of the actress doting on her son, now seven years old, and revealed that he tries every day to “keep moving forward.”
He wrote: ‘IIIVI. A little easier with every little bit of time that goes by looking at pictures… but I still don’t have answers to the why questions our sweet boy asks from time to time. I will never.
Tragic loss: Naya Rivera’s ex-husband Ryan Dorsey paid an emotional tribute to the late star on what would have been her 36th birthday on Thursday January 12 – the star is pictured with son Josey, now seven
“Fly high. We do our best.
“If you’re reading this, no matter what you’re going through, take a moment of gratitude that you’re still here on this ride.
“I know some days are harder than others to get up, but hang in there, we just have to keep going.”
On July 8, 2020, another skipper raised the alarm after seeing Rivera’s boat floating and Josey sleeping on board.
Much missed: Dorsey, 39, who was married to Rivera from 2014-2018, shared poignant photos of the actress doting on her son, revealing that he tries every day to ‘keep moving forward’
Before: The former couple is photographed in Los Angeles in 2014
Naya’s son Josey told investigators that he got back on the boat and his mother didn’t – investigators believed she had used her remaining strength to save her son.
She called her baby boy “my greatest success, and I’ll never do better than him” in her 2016 memoir “Sorry Not Sorry.”
Rivera and Hollis divorced in 2018, after Rivera filed to end the marriage in 2016, but they had initially reconciled.
Over Thanksgiving weekend 2017, Rivera was arrested in West Virginia on suspicion of domestic violence against Dorsey.
The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said Dorsey later asked that Rivera not be prosecuted.
Rise to fame: Rivera played Santana Lopez on the hit show Glee
She became the third major Glee star to die in her 30s. In what was the beginning of the show’s behind-the-scenes demise, on July 13, 2013, Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, was found dead of a drug overdose at the age of 31. in his Vancouver hotel room, after taking a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol. He was in rehab four months before his death.
Arguably the show’s most horrifying misery was Mark Salling’s 2015 arrest and subsequent 2017 conviction for possession of more than 50,000 images and 600 videos showing girls, some of whom were as young as three years old, being were raped. It was described as “the worst collection of pornography the country has ever seen.”
Salling, who played Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the show, had tried to hide them by masking his IP address and storing them on an encrypted hard drive. They were revealed to the police by an ex-girlfriend to whom he showed them. She became ill and notified the authorities. His plea deal described the size of his collection in harrowing detail.
Loving: Naya’s son Josey told investigators he got back on the boat and his mother didn’t – investigators believed she used her remaining strength to save her son
He was found committed suicide by hanging near his home in Sunland, Los Angeles on January 30, 2018. His death came shortly before his sentencing, which was scheduled for March 7. He had attempted suicide last year by slitting his wrists, after which he was treated for mental health problems.
Salling dated Naya from 2007 to 2010. In her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up, the actress admitted she wasn’t surprised by his gruesome convictions.
She wrote, “I can’t say I was totally shocked. When Mark dumped me I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine that wouldn’t happen?…
“And I was lying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door?”
Father: Dorsey is pictured with the former couple’s son in 2022
