Hometown Tragedy

In my hometown of Dickinson, ND, three student/softball players from Dickinson State University died.

Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Man., Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego; and Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.

The three friends and teammates drove out to stargaze on Sunday night, and something went wrong. A friend got a call from one of the girls and it was frantic, the word "water" was mentioned before the line went dead.

There was a search, both land and air, on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday attempting to locate the missing girls. Foul play was immediately thought - these girls were strong, sensible, athletes. The authorities tracked the cell phone call to a certain tower and concentrated the search around that area.

Yesterday a helicopter spotted tire tracks leading into a stock pond.

The 1997 Jeep Cherokee was soon discovered submerged in the 10ft deep pond, with the three girls still inside, as well as one of the girl's dogs. The windows were intact, as were the doors.

Apparently stargazing is something these friends liked to do - the North Dakota sky is perfect for doing this, as there aren't any competing lights from the "big city". And, there is plenty of land and backroads on which to find a nice spot and sit to explore the night sky.

So, the big question is, what happened? How did three very strong women not attempt to break or roll down the windows of the vehicle to escape? They were of mind to call a friend twice for help, but did not attempt to save themselves beyond that? Were they overcome by the freezing temperatures, the blackness of being underwater and the fear that they didn't know how deeply submerged they were? Was the disorientation so great that they couldn't think clearly and ran out of time?

The autopsies will take a few days. Alcohol is not being ruled out, but the authorities are not speculating as to what they feel is the main cause.

This kind of tragedy is really beyond words. Sports at the university is something that keeps the student body, all 2,700 hundred of them, "glued together". So I'm sure these players were well known and well liked. And now they will be very missed and mourned.

This year, my hometown has been featured on the national news twice, once for deadly tornadoes that ripped through the south side of town, and now this. I could have done without either - and I'm sure I'm not alone in this thought.

My thoughts are with those in my hometown.