Demi Lovato starred as Dani on season five of Glee, playing the love interest of Naya Rivera’s character Santana Lopez.
And on Monday, after Rivera’s body was confirmed to be found at Lake Piru five days after she disappeared, Lovato reflected on the 33-year-old’s ‘groundbreaking’ character and their time together.
Sharing throwback photos together on Instagram, the Tell Me You Love Me singer wrote ‘I’ll forever cherish the opportunity to play your girlfriend on Glee.’
RIP: On Monday, after Naya Rivera’s body was confirmed to be found at Lake Piru five days after she disappeared, Demi Lovato reflected on the 33-year-old’s ‘groundbreaking’ character and their time together
‘RIP Naya Rivera,’ she added. ‘The character you played was groundbreaking for tons of closeted queer girls (like me at the time) and open queer girls, and your ambition and accomplishments were inspiring to Latina women all over the world.’
Lovato sent her condolences to Rivera’s family, continuing: ‘My heart goes out to your loved ones at this time..’
In one of the photos, Rivera and Lovato making kissing faces as the 27-year-old prepares to plant a kiss on the Glee star’s cheek.
Lovato recurred in the Fox show for six episodes in season five as Santana’s girlfriend.
On-screen: Lovato recurred in the Fox show for six episodes in season five as Santana’s (Rivera’s) girlfriend
The day after Rivera went missing, Demi asked fans for hope that the mother-of-one would be found alive, writing ‘Please pray for @nayarivera to be found safe and sound.’
Other celebs, including her Glee co-stars Chris Coelfer and Jane Lynch, paid tribute including Pretty Little Liars star Janel Parrish who wrote: ‘Rest In Peace and power, Naya [sad face and broken heart emojis]’
The Ventura County Sheriff Twitter announced the grim discovery on Twitter, saying: ‘A body has been found at Lake Piru this morning.
Found: The Ventura County Sheriff Twitter announced the grim discovery on Twitter, saying: ‘A body has been found at Lake Piru this morning. Rivera vanished on Wednesday on Lake Piru after taking a pontoon boat out on the water with her four-year-old son Josey
‘The recovery is in progress.’
Rivera vanished on Wednesday on Lake Piru after taking a pontoon boat out on the water with her four-year-old son Josey.
Josey was later found alone, sleeping on the boat, by another group who noticed it drifting.
Paying tribute: Kristin Chenweth paid tribute to Naya with a photo of the star and her son, along with the caption, ‘Thank you for what you gave the world. I love you’
Search and rescue teams have spent the last six days combing the lake for traces of the actress but struggled against poor visibility and the sheer size of the lake.
On Monday, they honed in on a cove where the actress had taken a photograph of Josey and sent it to a relative 90 minutes before he was found on the boat.
They focused their search on that cove on Monday.
The actress grew up 20 miles from the lake and was familiar with it, police sources said last week.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office released CCTV footage showing Naya Rivera and her four-year-old son arriving at the dock on Lake Piru on Wednesday
She thought of it as her ‘sanctuary’, despite it being known for rip currents and icy waters that can overpower swimmers.
On Sunday, Naya’s distraught family were seen at the lake trying to assist investigators in their search for her.
Josey told police that his mother ‘jumped in’ and never came back up to the surface.
He was wearing a life jacket but the actress’s was on the pontoon when it was recovered.
‘There was a picture sent to a family member that showed the boy on the boat by a cove. We found where that cove was,’ Robert Inglis of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue Team told Us Weekly.
This diagram shows where Naya Rivera and her son rented a boat on Lake Piru before the four-year-old was seen alone. The map in the top left shows the location of the lake in relation to Los Angeles where Rivera lives
He previously said: ‘What I suspect is that the winds kicked up.
‘Those pontoon boats are very light, and when you push them, it can get away from you. She might’ve tried to swim after the boat. But that’s all speculation. Once we do locate her, that’ll answer a lot more questions.’
Police have not shared the image and it’s unclear which cove it was taken in. Over the weekend, they asked members of the public not to go looking for the star themselves in the dangerous water.
The actress’s father George on Sunday appeared to help co-ordinate the hunt for his missing daughter after police confirmed ‘nothing came’ of their search of cabins along Lake Piru.