Autopsy Report: Naya Rivera Called for Help as She Drowned

In this Feb. 23, 2016, file photo, actress Naya Rivera attends Vanity Fair and FIAT Celebration of Young Hollywood in West Hollywood, Calif. An autopsy report released Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 says "Glee" actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2016, file photo, actress Naya Rivera attends Vanity Fair and FIAT Celebration of Young Hollywood in West Hollywood, Calif. An autopsy report released Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 says "Glee" actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
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Autopsy Report: Naya Rivera Called for Help as She Drowned

In this Feb. 23, 2016, file photo, actress Naya Rivera attends Vanity Fair and FIAT Celebration of Young Hollywood in West Hollywood, Calif. An autopsy report released Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 says "Glee" actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2016, file photo, actress Naya Rivera attends Vanity Fair and FIAT Celebration of Young Hollywood in West Hollywood, Calif. An autopsy report released Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 says "Glee" actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

An autopsy report released Friday says "Glee" actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake.

Once his mother had helped him back on to the boat, the boy "noticed the decedent put her arm up in the air and yelled `help,´" the report from the Ventura County Medical Examiner says. "The decedent then disappeared in to the water."

Authorities had previously said that Rivera had drowned accidentally after putting the boy, Josey Hollis Dorsey, back on the boat at Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles on July 8, but had not mentioned her shouting for help.

Rivera "knew how to swim well," the report said.

The man who rented her the pontoon boat said she declined a life vest, but he put one aboard anyway.

It revealed that the 33-year-old Rivera had previous problems with vertigo, had a recent sinus infection, and had a small amount of prescribed amphetamines in her system, but did not identify physical conditions or drugs as factors in her death.

Toxicology tests also showed she had small, therapeutic amounts of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam and the appetite suppressant phentermine in her system.

Josey, Rivera's son with her former husband, actor Ryan Dorsey, was found sleeping and alone on the drifting boat later that afternoon.

Five days later, her body was found floating in an area of the lake that is about 30 feet deep. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office said she was most likely trapped in thick vegetation underwater for several days before floating to the top.

Josey was immediately reunited with his father and other relatives.

The day before her death, Rivera tweeted a photo of the two of them that read, "just the two of us." In her memoir, she called him "my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him."



'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

James Gunn, writer and director of the off-kilter "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, tussled with various ideas on how to deliver a new take on Superman to the big screen.

Gunn said he was aware of the many ways the noble hero had been approached since his 1938 debut, initially in comic books and then radio serials, television shows and movies.

The challenge was to deliver something fresh that would appeal to a new generation of moviegoers and reinvigorate Warner Bros Discovery's DC Studios.

His vision, in the movie titled simply "Superman," starts rolling out in international theaters on Wednesday and in the United States and Canada on Friday, Reuters reported.

In the opening scene, Superman, played for the first time by David Corenswet, is seen bloodied after a fight, an unusual portrayal for the Man of Steel.

"I wanted to take the character of Superman and just focus on a piece of him that we haven't necessarily seen before," Gunn said.

Gunn surrounded Superman with elements that enthralled him from the comics as a child. Superman lives in a world, Gunn said, with "superhero friends and giant monsters and flying dogs, robots and all this magical stuff."

The new film includes Superman's four-legged sidekick, a superpowered dog named Krypto first introduced in a 1955 comic. The latest version is based on Gunn's real-life, misbehaving rescue mutt.

Warner Bros is counting on "Superman" to start a new era at DC Studios, which has failed to match the superhero success of Walt Disney-owned Marvel. Gunn, who made the "Guardians" movies for Marvel, was named co-CEO of DC Studios, alongside producer Peter Safran, in 2022.

The pair have plotted a long-term slate that features a Supergirl movie for June 2026, a film based on Swamp Thing and TV shows for HBO Max. Wonder Woman and Batman also are expected to return to cinemas.

Gunn said the aesthetic that audiences see in "Superman" will not necessarily foreshadow future DC Studios endeavors. "I want to be really certain that every project has its own unique flavor," Gunn said.

"We're doing Clayface, and that doesn't feel like this movie. It's an R-rated horror movie. We're doing 'Lanterns,' which is an HBO show, which feels very much like an HBO show, very grounded, very kind of brutal. We have 'Peacemaker,' which is an adult show with a lot of emotion and a lot of comedy."

Gunn admitted he has felt the weight of responsibility to produce a hit.
"I've felt pressure all along," Gunn said. "That's been difficult."

But as he started to see initial reaction to the film, "I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "It's pretty fun. I'm seeing the effect the movie has on people."