(SANTA MARIA TIMES) A 43-year-old man who was reportedly swept out to sea at the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve during a baptism ceremony this morning, had not been located as of 6 p.m., according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The man was swept out with two other people just before 10 a.m., according to Mauro Cervantes, the pastor of the Santa Maria church Jesus Christ Light of the Sky.
The other two people were able to return to shore, he said. Emergency crews responded to the beach and began searching as a group of participants in the baptism ceremony, most of whom were speaking Spanish, waited in the parking lot.
