Police confirm bodies of three ND students were discovered yesterday

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DICKINSON, N.D. - A 21-year-old student from Manitoba was among three North Dakota college softball players found dead yesterday in a Jeep that was pulled from a pond two days after the women disappeared.

Authorities had been searching since Sunday night for Ashley Neufeld of Brandon, Man., Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego; and Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.

Police Lt. Rod Banyai said police are "still investigating" the cause of the deaths and autopsies are planned.

Banyai said he believes the women were in the vehicle when they made two cell phone calls to friends for help, but he didn't know whether it already was under water when those calls were made.

The Dickinson State University students were believed to be in the white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from in the calls made to two friends on cell phones before 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.

Banyai said the pond is about 3.6 metres deep on a farm northwest of Dickinson. He said searchers found vehicle tracks leading into the pond yesterday afternoon, and searchers in an airplane flying over the site saw oil on top of the water.

The submerged vehicle was pulled from the pond about two hours later, police said.

Banyai said the vehicle will be checked for defects. He said authorities don't know how it got into the pond.

In Brandon, Man., people said they were devastated by news of Neufeld's tragic death.