Authorities searched for 1 1/2 days, sweeping an area surrounding Buford Dam, before finally finding a Forest Park man who drowned after attending a church baptism.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found Ciro Jimenez Beltron, 37, at 8:12 a.m. Monday "in the area he was believed to have drowned" in Lake Lanier, according to a DNR report.

Gwinnett County firefighters responded to the scene at 8 p.m. Saturday after a group of people Beltron was with reported that he was last seen wading in water a couple hours earlier.

"The bystanders also stated that the male could not swim nor had a life jacket," said Lt. Eric Eberly of Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services.

The church "had been finished with the services and there was a large group of the congregation that stayed behind to enjoy the rest of the day at the lake," Eberly said.

Initially, a search of the area by swift water personnel located what appeared to be a person's body underwater but was out of reach from crew members. The Hall County Dive Team was then called to help in the effort.

Later, Gwinnett's swift water and Hall dive teams conducted "an underwater search for the victim with no results," Eberly said.

The search resumed Sunday and involved Gwinnett authorities, Dawson County Emergency Services' K-9 unit, Forsyth County Fire Dive Team, the Hall dive team, DNR and the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers.

"We're kind of dumbfounded," Eberly said Sunday evening. "We've had all these agencies diving in the area where we thought he might be ... and it's really clear water. There are just no signs of him."

A DNR employee spotted Beltron's body on the water's surface Monday morning, and Gwinnett authorities recovered the body, spokeswoman Melissa Cummings said.

"It is certainly difficult to believe they were not able to recover him either Saturday or Sunday, as I am sure they were close," she said. "That is the hard part about recovery. You could be 5-10 feet away and may not be able to find them."

Eberly said that as rescuers left the area on Sunday, all the agencies "felt confident that his body was not where we had searched, to the point that we started to believe that he may not have even been in the water at all.

"We were mistaken."

Authorities are relieved, nonetheless, Eberly said.

"We are glad that we have provided the family closure to (this) horrific event," he said.