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Naya Rivera’s Son Josey Tried to Throw Her a Rope the Day She Drowned. His Dad Ryan Dorsey Reveals What Stopped Him (Exclusive)


Naya Rivera's son Josey tried to throw her a rope the day she drowned in Lake Piru in Ventury Country, Calif., in 2020, but a spider stopped the boy, then 4, in his tracks.

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, the actor, 41, says in his first sit-down interview since Rivera's death that their son Josey, now 9, still holds guilt for not being able to save his mom as he watched her drown while they were swimming off a rental boat in Lake Piru in Ventura County, Calif. After some time swimming, Rivera noticed the boat — which hadn’t been equipped with an anchor or flotation devices, points that Dorsey included in the wrongful-death lawsuit he filed on behalf of Josey against Ventura County that was settled in 2022 — was drifting. As he and Josey navigate life without Rivera, Dorsey — who moved from L.A. to his home state of West Virginia with his son two years ago — admits the holidays are still especially tough.

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