ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A student at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny drowned Tuesday while on his honeymoon.
22-year-old Dalton Cottrell, a native of Malcom in Poweshiek County, traveled to Florida after marrying his wife, Cheyenne Cottrell, on Saturday.
The couple married in Kansas City, Missouri and were swimming on the northeast coast of Florida when a current pulled Dalton in. He was pulled out of the water and transported to a St. Augustine hospital where he was later pronounced dead, KCRG-TV reports.
“Please keep the Cottrell family, Cheyenne, and the entire Faith family in your prayers as we work through the difficult days ahead,” Faith Baptist Bible College said in a release.
The school confirmed that both Dalton and Cheyenne had completed their junior years.
“Our hearts our broken for our Team Member, Cheyenne,” Chick-Fil-A Ankeny wrote in a Facebook post. “Please join us in prayer for her comfort and healing.
Cheyenne Cottrell wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning describing the tragedy in her own words:
“3 days of wedded bliss turned into a nightmare very quickly for the Cottrell family as well as mine own. Many of you know but more of you do not; so the family and I decided to put the awful news here on Facebook though this is not where I wish to place it or even have to say it.
Yesterday afternoon while at the beach the Lord decided to call my husband Dalton to come home to Him. There is so much fear and uncertainty coursing through myself. My parents came down early this morning to be with me as I begin the next journey. Never did I think at 22 would I be a wife and then a widow so quickly. Please pray for I and all families as we grief. Right now there is no details for a funeral, but we will know more in the next several days.
I love you so much Dalton Cottrell”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for Cheyenne and her family.