1 missing after being swept away off Calif. coast
GUADALUPE, Calif. — Rescuers scoured the waters off a Central Coast beach Sunday after three people were swept to sea during a baptism ceremony, and only two managed to return to shore on their own, authorities said.
A 43-year-old man remained missing after being swept away from the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve, west of the small town of Guadalupe, Santa Barbara County Fire Battalion Chief Diondray Wiley said.
The pastor of a Santa Maria church told KCOY-TV his cousin, Benito Flores, was helping him baptize a man when a rogue wave pulled him into the ocean.
Pastor Maurigro Cervantes of Jesus Christ Light of the Sky said he tried to grab his cousin, but a second big wave took him.
Rescue crews from several local fire departments along with a U.S. Coast Guard boat were searching for the missing man.
