Nov-03-2009Father: Missing ND students liked to star gaze
(topic overview)
CONTENTS:- DICKINSON, N.D. — Authorities in southwestern North Dakota searched Monday for three Dickinson State University softball players reported missing after a friend received late night telephone calls that mentioned water and indicated the women needed help. (More...)
- Foul play is not suspected, Tuhy said. (More...)
- In a Tuesday morning news release, Dickinson police said there were at least two reported sightings of the women in the area of Killdeer, N.D., more than 50 kilometres north of Dickinson, starting in the early hours of Monday morning. (More...)
- Gemar is from Grossmont, Calif; and Williamson is from Lake Elsinore, Calif. They girls were believed to be in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from late Sunday night, authorities said. (More...)
- Williamson is a transfer from Riverside Community College in Riverside, Calif. Dickinson State athletic director Roger Ternes said the school will have counselors available if anybody should need them. (More...)
- All three women attend Dickinson State University, located in a small city of the same name, about 500 kilometres west of Fargo. (More...)
- Three of the school's softball players were reported missing following an alarming cell phone call. (More...)
SOURCESFIND OUT MORE ON THIS SUBJECTDICKINSON, N.D. — Authorities in southwestern North Dakota searched Monday for three Dickinson State University softball players reported missing after a friend received late night telephone calls that mentioned water and indicated the women needed help. Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of Grossmont, Calif; Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.; and Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Manitoba in Canada were believed to be in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from late Sunday night, authorities said.
[1] The missing women are 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar of Grossmont, Calif.; 20-year-old Afton Williamson of Lake Elsinore, Calif., and 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld of Brandon, Manitoba. The women were believed to be in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from late Sunday night. Dickinson State Softball Coach Guy Fridley says it's a "numbing feeling" to have so many unanswered questions.
[2] Police have refused to speculate on what might have happened to Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of Grossmont, Calif.; 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.
[3] Authorities are asking residents to be on the lookout for Kyrstin Gemar, 22, Ashley Neufeld, 21, and Afton Williamson, 20, who all play softball for Dickinson State University. They are believed to have been driving a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California license plate number 3UBN521. They were last heard from 11:18 p.m. Sunday night when one of the women called a friend.
[4] Kyrstin Gemar's father, Lenny Gemar, told ABC's "Good Morning America" in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the Dickinson State University softball players would hang out by Patterson Lake. Police say 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar, 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld and 20-year-old Afton Williamson called a friend late Sunday night, and she called 911 to report they needed help.
[5] Police in Dickinson, N.D., say that 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar; Ashley Neufeld, a 21-year-old Manitoban; and 20-year-old Afton Williamson made two phone calls to a friend late Sunday evening, asking for help and mentioned that the women were near a lake and water. It is believed that the women were travelling with a small dog in a 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California licence places at the time that the calls were made.
[6] The women were believed to have been driving a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee. They're identified as 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar, 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld and 20-year-old Afton Williamson. Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said the women called their friend Sunday night but the line went dead and the friend then called police.
[7] North Dakota (ChattahBox) - Three missing college students reportedly left a frantic cell phone message on a friend's voicemail, as the last known contact before the three disappeared without a trace. Kyrstin Gemar, Ashley Neufeld and Afton Williamson, three Dickinson students from the college's softball team, were reportedly in a rural area stargazing when they vanished. That night, a friend received a voicemail from one of the girls. They were reportedly hysterical, and there were several strange noises in the background. The friend claims that there were mentions of water, though police have not confirmed this.
[8] Ashley Neufeld, a 21-year-old psychology student from Brandon, Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of Grossmont, Calif., and Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., are all members of Dickinson State College's softball team.
[9] Authorities are asking residents to be on the lookout for Kyrstin Gemar, 22, Ashley Neufeld, 21, and Afton Williamson, 20, who all play softball for Dickinson State University. They are believed to have been driving a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California license plate number 3UBN521.
[10] Kyrstin Gemar, Ashley Neufeld and Afton Williamson, members of the Dickinson softball team, were last seen Sunday. The three friends were believed to have been stargazing in a rural farming area before they disappeared.
[11] U.S. authorities said Tuesday that crews were continuing to search for Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Man., and two California women -- Kyrstin Gemar, 22 and Afton Williamson, 20.
[12] Police say 22-year-old Gemar, 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld and 20-year-old Afton Williamson called a friend late Sunday night. The friend called 911 to report they needed help.
[13] Gemar left Dickinson to go stargazing Sunday night with teammates Ashley Neufeld and Afton Williamson in a Jeep Cherokee.
[14] Police believe the woman was the last contact with the three girls, who have been identified as DSU students and softball players. They are 20-year old Afton Williamson, 21-year old Ashley Neufeld, and 22-year old Kyrston Gemar.
[15] Gemar and DSU softball players Ashley Neufeld and Afton Williamson were reported missing Monday.
[16] 
Foul play is not suspected, Tuhy said. The women are believed to have left their residences about an hour before their friend called police, Tuhy said. Gemar is a native of Grossmont, Calif., Neufeld is a native of Brandon, Manitoba, and Williamson is from Lake Elsinore, Calif., according to their profiles on the DSU Web site. Chandra Christmann, a DSU student who lived with Williamson for about two months, said Monday that she thinks the women were stargazing when they went missing. '''They like to go look at the stars,''' Christmann said. She added the girls travelled all over the area when stargazing and there wasn'''t a particular area they frequented. '''I think they try to make it a new adventure every time they do it,''' Christmann said. Tuhy could not confirm what the women were doing when they went missing. '''We'''ve had different reports on that and it'''s nothing that we can confirm, because we haven'''t had a chance to talk to these three gals,''' Tuhy said. Christmann and other friends of the girls say it is unlike them to disappear.
[10] Tuhy said authorities are searching southwest North Dakota for the women from the ground and the sky. Residents should be on the lookout for the girls and their vehicle, Tuhy said, but cautions against forming personal search parties. '''People do want to go out there and help search for them, but we encourage them not to go out and search for them,''' Tuhy said. '''I can'''t stop them from going out and looking any place that they want to look.''' He said personal search parties may interfere with the police investigation. '''Before we start getting the general public involved I'''d like to have them more organized, to where everybody knows where and who and where they'''re going,''' Tuhy said. He added if someone spots the Jeep, contact the sheriff'''s department or Dickinson Police Department. '''If they do spot it, don'''t do anything with it, just standby and give us a call,''' Tuhy said. Some DSU students tried to organize a search party Monday afternoon, but were unsure whether they would search, since authorities are discouraging it.
[10] DICKINSON, N.D. — Authorities in southwestern North Dakota say three Dickinson State softball players have been reported missing after a friend received late night telephone calls that indicated the women needed help.
[17] DICKINSON, N.D. -- A young Manitoba woman is among three Dickinson State University softball players who went missing Sunday in southwestern North Dakota after a friend received a call for help.
[12] Authorities have been searching southwestern North Dakota for three members of the Dickinson State softball team after a friend of the women reported getting a call from them asking for help.
[7] DICKINSON, N.D. A Canadian is one of three students from a college in North Dakota who authorities are searching for after a friend of the women reported getting a call from them asking for help.
[18] DICKINSON, N.D. — The father of one of three missing college softball players said Tuesday the women often went star gazing near a lake in southwestern North Dakota where authorities continued to search by plane and boat for the students.
[3] DICKINSON, N.D. The father of one of three missing college students says they often went star gazing near a lake in southwestern North Dakota. He also says police don't suspect foul play.
[13] Authorities in North Dakota have made little progress in their search for three missing Dickinson State University students; their only lead is two cell phone calls that included "hysterical noises" the night the students vanished.
[11] According to ABC News, three
Dickinson State University students who went missing Sunday are still being searched for by North Dakotan authorities, who have reportedly little to go on except for two phone calls which included " hysterical noises." The three women, members of the Dickinson State University softball team, the Blue Hawks, were last believed to be in a rural farming area at the time of their disappearance.
[19] Dickinson, N.D., is about 570 kilometres southwest of Brandon. The women were believed to have been driving a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they reportedly made a late-night phone call to a friend on Sunday night in which they asked for help before the line cut out.
[9] The three are members of Dickinson State College's softball team. Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said the women called their friend Sunday night but the line went dead and the friend then called police.
[18] All three women have cell phones, and recent incoming phone calls have gone directly to voicemail, Tuhy said. Tuhy has asked that the public not form its own search parties. If somebody were to spot the missing vehicle, they should report it to the Dickinson Police Department or the Stark County Sheriff's Department. "The reason is we don't know who is out there looking and where they are going and searching," Tuhy said.
[20] Dickinson Police Officer Thomas Grosz said the search for the women resumed Tuesday morning with at least three airplanes. He said members of the fire department also were taking a boat out on Patterson Lake, just 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. "It's scary. It's just a numbing feeling that you have for those kids.
[3] Dickinson Police Officer Thomas Grosz says at least three airplanes are being used. He says the Dickinson Rural Fire Department is taking a boat out on Patterson Lake. The father of one of the women says they often went star gazing near the lake. Lenny Gemar told ABC's "Good Morning America" that police have told him they don't suspect a crime.
[2] Grosz said the Dickinson Rural Fire Department was in the Patterson Lake area -- the same place where Kyrstin Gemar's father said the trio liked to hang out to go stargazing. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Lenny Gemar said his daughter and her friends often hung out by Patterson Lake when going to look at the stars.
[6] One of the missing girls, Ashley Neufeld, is from Brandon, Man. Lenny Gemar, father of one of the other girls, Kyrstin Gemar, told ABC's "Good Morning America" in a telephone interview today that they would hang out by Patterson Lake.
[13] Lenny Gemar, the father of Kyrstin Gemar, said the girls often went stargazing in southwestern North Dakota. He told ABC's Good Morning America in a telephone interview on Tuesday that they would hang out by Patterson Lake. 'They haven't found anything that I'm aware of.
[9] There's just so many questions — you're almost speechless because you don't know much," said Dickinson State softball coach Guy Fridley. Lenny Gemar said he and his wife arrived in North Dakota late Monday night to try to help find his daughter, Kyrstin, and her teammates. He said they were met at the airport by a university official and updated on the case and investigators' efforts. "They haven't found anything that I'm aware of," he said.
[3] Font Size: Default size Larger size Dickinson State University softball player Kyrstin Gemar, shown here during a softball game against Jamestown College on May 3, is one of three DSU students who were reported missing Monday.
[20] Dickinson State University designated hitter Kyrstin Gemar swings at a pitch during a softball game against Jamestown College on May 3, 2009.
[16] Kyrstin Gemar, 22, attends Dickinson State and plays softball for the school's team.
[14] Lenny Gemar told ABC's "Good Morning America" in a telephone interview that the Dickinson State University students would hang out by Patterson Lake near the city and "just look up at the stars and, you know, chat about the things that teenagers will chat about."
[3] For now, deputies are asking that volunteer search parties not get involved but Gemar's father said hundreds of volunteers are helping look for Kyrstin and her friends. Deputies said they've checked Patterson Lake and other bodies of water around Dickinson, but divers have not been utilized.
[14] '''The deputy met the individual at Patterson Lake at which time the investigation started and has been going on all day,''' Tuhy said at a Monday afternoon press conference at the Law Enforcement Center in Dickinson. '''From my understanding, when she got the call, they were talking something about water and some hysterical noises (were heard) in the background.'''
[10] Authorities have checked Patterson Lake and other bodies of water around Dickinson, but divers have not been utilized, Tuhy said.
[10] Dickinson Police Officer Thomas Grosz says at least three airplanes are being used. He says the Dickinson Rural Fire Department is taking a boat out on Patterson Lake.
[2] Tuhy said the investigation has been turned over to the Dickinson Police Department because all three women were residents of the city of Dickinson.
[20] Dickinson police Lt. Dave Wallace said a friend received two telephone calls from them, one minute apart, before the line cut out. Police did not release what was said in those calls, but the friend reported that the women appeared frantic and mentioned water.
[9] The three women were driving somewhere in southwest North Dakota when something happened. According to police, they received a call from a woman around 11:45 p.m. Sunday night. The caller stated she had just received a frantic call from three of her friends. She told police the girls mentioned entering water.
[15] The Stark County Sheriff says three planes were searching for the women. "Right now, we don`t even know where we`re supposed to be looking at, we are trying a big area, an area where we think they might be at," says Clarence Tuhy, Stark County Sheriff. At least one of the planes in the air is equipped with thermal imaging. Police say they believe they`ve located the area the call was made from, but they say they will continue to search the entire southwest portion of North Dakota.
[15] Donnell Preskey, assistant news director at KXMB TV in Bismarck, said many resources are being used in the search, including local and state police, highway patrol and air patrol. "It's such a large area; they don't have a clue where these girls are," she said. "They're searching pretty much the whole southwestern corner of North Dakota because they don't know how far the girls went. "They're searching from every direction from Dickinson, north, south, east, west.
[9] A search will resume this morning for a young Manitoba woman and two other students reported missing after they made chilling calls to a friend in Dickinson, North Dakota.
[21] Search continues for Man. student missing in U.S. The search for a young woman from Brandon, Man., and two other female college students who went missing while driving in southwestern North Dakota is expected to resume Tuesday.
[9] The search continues for three university softball players in southwestern North Dakota -- including a Canadian outfielder -- who have not been heard from since Sunday night.
[6] The North Dakota Patrol and police from several local counties have been involved in the search, which has seen grid searches taking place by air and by land.
[6] In a Tuesday morning news release, Dickinson police said there were at least two reported sightings of the women in the area of Killdeer, N.D., more than 50 kilometres north of Dickinson, starting in the early hours of Monday morning. Police also said "there have been other sightings, none which have been confirmed at this time." The same release said a forensic cell phone examiner had traced the last cellular phone signal to a location north of Dickinson.
[6] According to North Dakotan police, the women made two phone calls to a friend asking for help.
[19] Police said one of the women placed two phone calls to a friend shortly before midnight, asking for help.
[11] Lt. Banyai said it is believed that the women were on a star gazing trip when one of the women called a friend for help at around 11:18 p.m. local time. "The call was very scratchy and consisted of a call for help, and they mentioned were near a lake and water," he said, in a news release Tuesday. He said the call lasted for 40 seconds. A minute later, another call was made that lasted around 30 seconds and at that time both phones went dead and have not been in service since that time.
[12] The friend who received the calls called 911 to report that the women needed help, police said.
[3] The friend then called 911. Gemar's father, Lenny Gemar, told "Good Morning America" today that he has been told police do not suspect foul play. From the call for help, he said, "it comes across as sounding more like an accident of some kind."
[11] Gemer's father, Lenny Gemar, shared with "Good Morning America" that police believe that the students were not victims of foul play, and that, the call "comes across as sounding more like an accident of some kind." Police have resumed their search for the students on Nov. 3rd.
[19] Three students who are missing are also traveling with a small dog, according to a press release from the Dickinson Police Department sent this morning.
[4] The call lasted for approximately 40 seconds. One minute later another call was made that lasted approximately 30 seconds and at that time both phones went dead and have not been in service since that time, police said. "The Dickinson Police Department is pursuing all avenues at this time foul play is not suspected but is not being ruled out," said Lt. Rod Banyai in a news release.
[14] Dickinson Police Lt. Dave Wallace told The Associated Press that the calls came in less than one minute apart. He did not say which of the women called or what exact words were used.
[11] The group called a friend at 11:18 p.m. to ask for help, Dickinson police said.
[14] Dickinson police Officer Thomas Grosz told CTV.ca that airplanes were "back in the air" on Tuesday morning, resuming an air search that ended when it got dark on Monday night.
[6] Travelling with the women is a small dog, said Lt. Rod Banyai, a spokesman with the Dickinson police department.
[12] The last phone call made by the women pinged off the radar base road cell phone tower northeast of Dickinson, Tuhy said. The call could have been made from up to 30 miles away, he said.
[10] The search for the missing women has been in a 30-mile radius, based on a cell tower north of Dickinson that the last known call went through.
[20] Authorities began a search of an area within a 48-kilometre radius of the cell phone tower north of Dickinson where the call came through.
[21] Authorities used three airplanes and officers on the ground Monday to search within in a 30-mile radius of the cell phone tower north of Dickinson where the call came through.
[1] The sheriff said no crime is suspected. He said authorities have been searching an area in a 30-mile radius of a cell tower north of Dickinson where the call came through.
[7] Gemar is from Grossmont, Calif; and Williamson is from Lake Elsinore, Calif. They girls were believed to be in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee with California plates when they were last heard from late Sunday night, authorities said. [13] The women, who are believed to have been traveling in a white 1997 Jeep Cherokee, phoned a friend late Sunday to ask for help, but then the line went dead.
[20] Authorities have said the women said something about water, and the friend reported hearing "hysterical noises" before the line went dead.
[11] "No tire tracks, no clothing ''' nothing at all to give us any indication where the girls ended up." Gemar said he had not spoken with the friend who said she received the distress calls, but it didn't seem like the women were being attacked. "There was nothing to indicate that there was an assailant or anything like that going on," he said. "It just comes across as sounding more like an accident of some kind."
[9] Police described the first one as a "very scratchy" call for help that mentioned the women were near a lake and water.
[3] Stark County sheriff Clarence Tuhy confirmed that there was a mention of "water" in the call for help.
[20] Tuhy said the Civil Air Patrol, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Stark County Emergency Management and neighboring counties have assisted in the investigation.
[20] A San Diego woman went stargazing Sunday with a few friends near a North Dakota college and hasn't been seen since.
[14] Williamson is a transfer from Riverside Community College in Riverside, Calif. Dickinson State athletic director Roger Ternes said the school will have counselors available if anybody should need them. Ternes said he met with the Dickinson State athletic staff and the student athletes involved with softball. "We haven't had a campus-wide meeting at this point," he said. "It's a wait-and-see thing. We don't know how far to take this until we find out what's going on.
[20] DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) - The search has resumed for three missing Dickinson State softball players.
[2] DICKINSON, N.D. Three Dickinson women who often go out stargazing are missing and it is unclear where their trail will lead.
[10] All three women attend Dickinson State University, located in a small city of the same name, about 500 kilometres west of Fargo. [6] The Dickinson State University athletic department experienced a great weekend - until 11:49 p.m. on Sunday.
[20] The search included Lake Patterson near Dickinson, which is about 98 miles west of Bismarck and 63 miles east of the Montana state line.
[1] An aerial search has been conducted that has looked at Patterson Lake and other water bodies in the area.
[20] Three of the school's softball players were reported missing following an alarming cell phone call. [20] Kyrstin Gemar's family lives in Clairemont and her father Lenny Gemar said softball was Kyrstin's life. She was committed to her team and her father can't think of what might have happened.
[14] SOURCES1.
The Associated Press: ND authorities search for 3 Dickinson St. students2.
Search resumes for missing Dickinson State students | WDAY | Fargo, ND3.
The Associated Press: Father: Missing ND students liked to star gaze4.
More information released on disappearance | The Dickinson Press | Dickinson, North Dakota5.
The Associated Press: Father: Missing ND students liked to star gaze6.
CTV News | Search continues in N.D. for Manitoba woman, friends7.
Authorities search for 3 Dickinson State students8.
Missing Girls Made Frantic Call To Friend Asking For Help | ChattahBox News Blog9.
CBC News - Manitoba - Search continues for Man. student missing in U.S.10.
Three Dickinson State students missing | Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, North Dakota11.
Search Is on for Three College Women Missing in North Dakota - ABC News12.
Manitoba woman among three missing from U.S. college13.
Canadian among missing students in N.D. | Canada | News | Edmonton Sun14.
Student Disappeared on Stargazing Trip | NBC San Diego15.
The Search Continues For Three DSU Students on KFYR-TV North Dakota's NBC News Leader16.
Kyrstin | WDAY | Fargo, ND17.
The Associated Press: ND authorities search for 3 Dickinson St. students18.
Search on for 3 students, including Manitoba woman | World | News | Winnipeg Sun19.
Dickinson State University students still missing - Collegenews.20.
Three DSU athletes missing21.
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