Man Swept Out to Sea During Beach Baptism

Benito Flores is still missing
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 31, 2014 10:04 AM CDT
Man Swept Out to Sea During Beach Baptism
File photo of a Santa Barbara beach.   (AP Photo/Spencer Weiner)

A California man is still missing after he was swept out to sea while assisting with a beach baptism yesterday morning. Benito Flores, 43, was helping the pastor, his cousin, baptize a man at the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve near Santa Maria. "A big wave came and took Benito," Pastor Maurigro Cervantes tells KEYT. "I tried to take him out, he was heavy and then another big wave came." That one swept Flores from the shore. Search and rescue teams responded, along with helicopters and the Coast Guard. Flores had not been found as of last night, the Santa Maria Times reports. (More baptism stories.)

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