Body of Brandon girl, friends pulled from pond

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Dickinson State University students (from left) Ashley Neufeld, Kyrstin Gemar and Afton Williamson. (HANDOUT PHOTO / THE DICKINSON PRESS )

DICKINSON, N.D. -- Classes at Dickinson State University were cancelled today and counselling services are being offered to teammates and the college's 2,700 students after the tragedy involving three of the school's softball players, including a woman from Manitoba.

Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon was among three North Da­kota college softball players found dead Tuesday in a Jeep that was pulled from a farm pond two days after they disappeared.

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

Police Lt. Rod Banyai said the women were on a stargazing trip in the Jeep when they made two cellphone calls to friends for help, but he did not know whether it already was under water when the calls were made.

Autopsies are scheduled for today.

"At this time, foul play is not suspected," Banyai said Tuesday night. Investigators were working to determine whether the vehicle had any defects or whether alcohol was involved, he said.

This morning, authorities said the students likely didn’t see the water while on a stargazing trip.

Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said the Dickinson State University softball players may have driven straight into the pond Sunday night. The water was hidden by tall grass on a farm.

"When you're not familiar with an area like that it would have been very easy to drive into," Tuhy said.

The vehicle was found wheels-down with its doors and windows closed, Tuhy said.

"With the pressure from the water and all that … we don't know what happened," he said. "We don't know if there was an (escape) attempt but it did not succeed."

Their parents are scheduled to see the site today.

Last night, the parents of two of the students attended a prayer service inside a packed Dickin­son State student-centre ballroom.

"We are just trying to be strong for Ashley," said Neufeld's mother, Bev Neufeld.

"That's what she would want, and we have so much support here (on campus). We know how much Ashley loved this school. I would just like everybody to remember Ashley's smile and per­sonality."

In Brandon, friends were devastated by the news. Jim Nay started coaching Neufeld when she was about 12 years old and coached her for more than six years.

She was a "fantastic" player and "a very, very outgoing person," Nay said.

"I've coached an awful lot of people, from young boys through to adult men, from young girls through to adult women, and Ashley was probably one of the top two or three most knowl­edgeable people I have ever coached."

Nay said he expected a massive funeral in Brandon.

"I don't know where they're going to house it here in Brandon because I don't think there's a church going to be big enough to hold it. That's just what the love is for the family and for Ashley."

Longtime friend Jen Shadlock said she'll re­member Neufeld as the type of person who would do anything for someone in need.

"She was always there for me, regardless of whether it was convenient for her or not," Shad­lock said through tears.

Shadlock played softball with Neufeld when they attended Vincent Massey High School together and with the Westman Magic.

She said her friend planned to pursue a career helping people with special needs and worked long hours at a Brandon group home this summer. At Dickinson State, Neufeld was a senior working on a degree in psychology.

Carberry resident Kevin McNeill met Neufeld when she played for the Manitoba women's softball team and he played for the Manitoba men's baseball team at the 2005 Canada Summer Games.

He said Neufeld had contacted him via Face­book on Thursday to invite him to North Dakota for Halloween. McNeill couldn't make it because he had to work.

"The thing about Ashley is she was friends with everyone... . You just couldn't walk by that girl without her giving you a hug or a smile," he said.

The three young women 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 cellphones 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 Tues­day afternoon, and searchers in an airplane fly­ing over the site saw oil on top of the water.

"I'm sure it will be difficult for quite a while. But we know that they'll be there with us. They would want us to play," softball teammate Jessica Huseby of Hamilton, Mont., said at the prayer service. "We just know they're going to be the 10th, 11th and 12th players on the field with us."

-- Associated Press, Brandon Sun and The Canadian Press