Man dies after driving into lake at Bellevue Baptist

Police are investigating a bizarre early morning incident on the property of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova that left a man dead. 

According to MPD spokesman Louis Brownlee, officers at the Appling Farms Station responded at about 4 a.m. to the church at 2000 Appling Road.

Brownlee said officers were told a man in a dark-colored vehicle had been speeding on church property just before driving into a pond.

The officers were told that as security personnel approached the vehicle, the occupant turned off the lights. The security officer who made the complaint said he then lost sight of the vehicle but as he got closer to the spot where it was last seen, he noticed it was in the middle of the pond. 

Officers were told the man was seen sitting on the hood of the car with a phone in his hand, but the security worker again lost sight as he was calling police. When the security worker turned back around, Brownlee said, the man on the car was gone.

Additional officers were called to conduct a search, along with fire personnel who used a boat to locate a body near the last known spot of the vehicle.

The man's identity was not immediately available.