Tragic accident after baptism ceremony

By Andria Simmons

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A time of joy quickly turned into a time of sorrow for an Atlanta area church congregation when a member drowned following a baptism ceremony at Lake Lanier over the weekend.

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Hall County divers search the swimming area at Buford Dam Park on Lake Lanier for Ciro Jimenez Beltron, who went missing after a baptism ceremony at the lake on Saturday.

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Phil Skinner, AJC Witnesses Jesus Juarez (left) and Jose Rojas (facing camera) talk with officials who were searching the water at Buford Dam Park on Sunday for a man who disappeared there on Saturday.

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Ciro Jimenez Beltron, 37, of Forest Park, disappeared into the water some time around 6 p.m. Saturday, but rescuers didn't find his body until Monday morning.

Divers found Beltron's body near Buford Dam Park, where he and a few other church members were said to have lingered for several hours after attending a baptism ceremony with about 60 congregants earlier in the day, according to Lt. Eric Eberly, spokesman for the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

Several witnesses who remained at the scene told authorities that Beltron could not swim and was not wearing a life jacket. He was wading when he probably slipped in an area where the lake drops off from 3 feet to 13 feet, Eberly said.

"His church friends stayed there and were there all day yesterday," said Eberly.

Rivers and lakes in Georgia are fairly popular settings for baptisms by submersion and Lake Lanier is the site for several every year. In 2009, Blackshear Place Baptist Church in Flowery Branch baptized more than 50 people in one ceremony.

Eberly said Beltron's friends lost track of him in the early evening and may have thought he wandered to another area of the park, which has soccer fields and hiking trails. The friends were preparing to leave around 8 p.m. when they noticed Beltron's belongings and realized he may have drowned, Eberly said.

There were some initial communication problems between the rescuers and witnesses because the churchgoers were from a Spanish-speaking congregation, Eberly said.

Rescuers from several area law enforcement agencies searched for a short while Saturday night and continued to scour the area Sunday with dive teams and tracking dogs. Beltron's body was found in the area near where he is believed to have gone under.

The body has been turned over to the Gwinnett County Medial Examiner for determination of cause of death.