N.C. Baptist youth, 17, dies in fall during retreat

OXFORD, N.C. — A Baptist teenager from North Carolina died Sept. 9 in an apparent accident at a church youth retreat.

Ozzie Vargas Jr., 17, died after falling from a zip line at Camp Oak Hill in North Granville County, N.C.

He was a member of the youth group at Apex Baptist Church, Apex, N.C. Vargas was airborne traveling on a zip line, which is a taut steel cable on which a sliding harness carries a single passenger down to a landing area below. The trip, from a 47-foot tower, should have taken him across the camp’s 9.5-acre lake. But instead Vargas’ harness disengaged from the zip line and he fell to his death before reaching the lake.

Peter Rochelle, executive director at Oak Hill, said no other accidents like this one had ever occurred in the camp’s 30 years. He said the incident is under investigation and that he could not comment further. An article on the Raleigh News & Observer Web site said the zip line was shut down after Vargas’ death.