North Carolina teen drowns at Macon’s Amerson River Park Tuesday evening

A 17-year-old North Carolina girl drowned Tuesday just after 6:30 p.m. at Amerson River Park in Macon.

Betty Gisselle Rivera was in the Ocmulgee river with her relatives Alex Mendoza, 28, and Laura Yesseria, 23, near the stairs at Bluff Pavilion when all three went underwater, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

People near the river heard their calls for help and jumped in to get them out of the water. Mendoza and Yesseria were pulled out of the river by two men. Rivera was found further down the river by one of the men. Bibb County firefighters and sheriff’s deputies assisted in getting Rivera out of the water.

All three were transported to a local hospital, as well as one of the men who jumped in to pull Rivera from the river. Rivera was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The other three are listed in stable condition.

This marks the second drowning at Amerson River Park in the last year. Kevin Gillens, 18, went underwater last May and his body was recovered after more than three hours of searching.