Ventura County Sheriff's office have confirmed that the body retrieved in Lake Piru is believed to be Glee actress Naya Rivera.

The 33-year-old had been missing since Wednesday afternoon, when she rented a boat with her four-year-old son and took it out on the lake, which is around 50 miles north-west of Los Angeles.

After five days of searching, a body was recovered from the lake today and while a formal identification has yet to take place, authorities have confirmed that it is Rivera.

A spokesman revealed Rivera's four-year-old son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, had said in an interview that the pair had been swimming in the lake, and she had helped him back on to the boat before disappearing under the water.

Investigators believe there was no foul play in Rivera's death, nor do they have cause to believe that she committed suicide.

The discovery of her body comes seven years to the day after the tragic death of her Glee co-star Cory Monteith after an accidental overdose.