Afton Williamson,Ashley Neufeld,Missing,11/2/09 ND.

Search under way for 3 North Dakota college students November 3, 2009 2:45 p.m. EST Friend says the missing women called her, were hysterical, mentioned water The three students were known to stargaze at lake, father of one tells ABC Kyrstin Gemar, Afton Williamson and Ashley Neufeld were last seen Sunday night Police searching with aircraft, divers searching lake near campus North Dakota(CNN) -- Authorities conducted ground and air searches Tuesday for three softball players at a North Dakota university who have been missing since Sunday, police said. Kyrstin Gemar, 22, Afton Williamson, 20, and Ashley Neufeld, 21, all students at Dickinson State University, were last seen about 10:45 p.m. Sunday, according to CNN affiliate KXMB. A friend of theirs told authorities she later received a phone call from them in which they mentioned water and were hysterical. The cell phone call came through a tower that was five miles northeast of Dickinson, KXMB said. Several airplanes were flying Tuesday over the rural area where the women are thought to be, said Dickinson, North Dakota, police officer Thomas Grosz. In addition, he told CNN, the Dickinson Rural Fire Department had divers searching a nearby lake. Grosz said on ABC's "Good Morning America" that authorities believe the women might have gone out to the lake to stargaze. That would not have been out of the ordinary, Gemar's father, Lenny, said on "Good Morning America." Dickinson, he said, is a "pretty small town" without an active nightlife. He said the young women were known to go out to the lake to stargaze and chat. He said there were two calls to the friend, both of which ended abruptly, but police at this point do not believe foul play was involved. "It comes across as sounding more like an accident of some kind," he said. University officials are planning an afternoon news conference Tuesday, spokeswoman Connie Walter told CNN. Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy told KXMB that all three of the girls have cell phones, but the phones were going straight to voice mail. The Stark County Sheriff's Department referred questions to Dickinson police Tuesday. Williamson and Gemar are from California, while Neufeld is from Canada, according to KXMB. They were driving a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California tags. Dickinson is just under 100 miles west of Bismarck, North Dakota. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/03/missing.students/

Police: 3 ND college students found dead in pond By BLAKE NICHOLSON (AP) – 37 minutes ago DICKINSON, N.D. — Police say three missing North Dakota college softball players have been found dead in their vehicle, which was pulled from a pond northwest of Dickinson. Police Lt. Rod Banyai said Tuesday night that police are "still investigating" the cause of the deaths. Authorities have been searching since Sunday night for 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar of San Diego; 20-year-old Afton Williamson, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.; and 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld of Brandon, Manitoba. The Dickinson State University students were said to be in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from in calls made to two friends on cell phones before the lines went dead. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Dive teams found no trace of three missing college softball players during a search Tuesday of a North Dakota lake where the women often went star gazing as authorities focused on tracing two cell phone calls made just before the three disappeared. Police have refused to speculate on what might have happened to Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego; Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.; and Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Manitoba in Canada. The women were believed to be in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from late Sunday night, authorities said. Two friends of the Dickinson State University students received telephone calls late Sunday night before the lines went dead. Police described the first as a "very scratchy" call for help in which one of the women said they were near a lake and water. Dickinson Police Lt. Dave Wallace said the calls came from two different phones, but authorities are not sure how many phones were in the vehicle. Authorities were trying to work with the local cell phone company to try to pin down the locations of where the calls were made, police said. One of the friends who received the calls called 911 to report that the women needed help, police said. Foul play was not suspected in their disappearance but was not being ruled out, police said. "I think I'm still in the shock phase," Kyrstin Gemar's father, Lenny, said Tuesday during a news conference at police headquarters. "It's really tough, especially not knowing. That's the hardest part." Gemar said his wife, Clare, talked to their daughter late Saturday night but there was no indication that anything was wrong. He said it was not uncommon for his daughter and her friends to go star gazing on the spur of the moment. Neufeld's father, Phil, declined comment other than to say the "cooperation and support is amazing here." A dive team searched Patterson Lake, where the students often went to look at stars, and found nothing, Wallace said. The lake is located southwest of Dickinson, a city of 16,000 people about 100 miles west of Bismarck and 60 miles east of the Montana state line. Police also said they searched the women's rooms and were interviewing their classmates, friends and people near Killdeer, north of Dickinson. The North Dakota National Guard was called to assist by helicopter, and the Civil Air Patrol and North Dakota Highway Patrol continued to search by plane Tuesday. "From what we're finding out, these are three very good girls and this is uncommon that they would do something like this," said police Lt. Rod Banyai. Authorities notified Canadian border officials and were told that the Jeep had not crossed the border, he said. At Dickinson State, where the women were stars on the school's softball team, the mood on campus was "apprehensive" but also "guardedly optimistic," said the university's Vice President Hal Haynes. Students at the 2,700-student school led a prayer service Monday night that drew more than 300 people. Another prayer services was scheduled for Tuesday night, university officials said. "People are hopeful and doing whatever is possible to aid in this effort to find these three young ladies," Haynes said. The college lists Gemar as a senior business major who played third base on the softball team. Neufield is a senior outfielder who is working on a degree in psychology, and Williamson, a junior, is a pitcher majoring in psychology with a minor in coaching. "It's a scary thing. It's something so rare for a little town like this. Everybody is praying. Everybody's minds are just wondering now because there's no clues," said Shaunda Dvorak, a Dickinson State volleyball player who worked out with the three women. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivg3H4SVxoJDOECn-VbmiaH9xhvAD9BOCGK01

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