'I still don't have the answers': Ryan Dorsey posts touching note on late ex-wife Naya Rivera's birthday
CHESAPEAKE, WEST VIRGINIA: Ryan Dorsey paid a touching tribute to his late ex-wife and actress Naya Rivera in an emotional Instagram post on what would have been her 36th birthday, on Thursday, January 12. The heartfelt post from the 'Big Sky' star comes nearly three years after Rivera drowned to death while kayaking on Lake Piru in California on July 8, 2020. She was 33 years old. Dorsey, 39, who was married to Rivera from 2014 to 2018, shared a series of pictures of the actress with her now-7-year-old son Josey Hollis.
Dorsey wrote in the caption, "IIIVI. A little easier with each little bit of time that passes by to look at pictures…but I still don’t have the answers to the questions to the why’s our sweet boy asks from time to time. I never will [...] Fly high. Doing the best we can." He added, "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 keep we just gotta keep pushing onward."
READ MORE
Naya Rivera death: What happened to 'Glee' actress in Lake Piru, explains Sheriff’s Department diver
Rivera was reported missing on July 8, 2020, after Josey, who was 4 at the time, was discovered by himself on a boat on Southern California's Lake Piru. Authorities spent days looking for Rivera, until her corpse was found on July 13. The detectives think Naya used her last bit of strength to save her son. In her memoir 'Sorry Not Sorry', published in 2016, she referred to her little child as "my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him."
Dorsey sued Ventura County and Lake Piru's administration for his ex-wife's wrongful death on behalf of his son four months later. The lawsuit claimed Rivera's death could have been prevented as the boat she and Josey rented did not have the flotation devices required by California law. A lawyer for Rivera's estate announced that the family had settled the lawsuit in March 2022. “Through this settlement, Josey will receive just compensation for having to endure the drowning of his beloved mother at Lake Piru,” the lawyer, Amjad M Khan, said in a statement at the time, as per Page Six.
Rivera and Dorsey were married for four years before filing a divorce in 2018. The young sister of the late actress, Nickayla Rivera, is now taking care of Josey.
