Members of the Dickinson State softball team have been in mourning since learning Tuesday that three of their teammates died in a submerged vehicle northwest of Dickinson, N.D. (Dustin Monke/The Dickinson Press/Associated Press)

The pond where the bodies of three missing North Dakota college softball players were found would have been easy to miss in the dark, police officials say.

Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy told a news conference in Dickinson, N.D., on Wednesday morning that wheel tracks led to the three-metre deep pond and did not lead out.

Three women — from left, Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of Grossmont, Calif., Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Man., and Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif. — had been missing since Sunday. (Dickinson State University/Associated Press)

Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Man., and her Dickinson State University teammates Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego and Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., were found inside the white 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. A dog was also inside.

The vehicle was 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."

The stock pond is at the bottom of a hill on private property in a treed area that would have been easy to get lost in, Tuhy said.

Dead-end road

The women likely travelled down a local road that leads to a dead end at an entrance to a farming road for the property, he said.

Tracks on the property indicate the women likely were turned around and were trying to find their way off the property when the Jeep went into the water. The pond is very close to a gate that would have led them back to a public road and also only a short distance from a farmhouse, Tuhy said.

"The visibility, of course, is dark and when you're not familiar with an area like that it would have been very easy to drive into the pond," Tuhy said.

There were no high ridges around the pond or any other signs to indicate to the women they were headed into the water, he said.

"There is just a high grass around the water," he said.

Didn't call 911

The three softball players disappeared on Sunday night when they are believed to have gone for a drive to stargaze. Their bodies were found inside the Jeep on Tuesday.

Ashley Neufeld's father, Phil, travelled to Dickinson, N.D., after learning his daughter was missing. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune/Associated Press)

Officials said foul play is not suspected. Tuhy declined to comment on any contents found inside the vehicle or if the women are suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of their deaths.

The women made two cellphone calls from inside the vehicle to friends for help on Sunday but the lines quickly went dead. Police described the first as a "very scratchy" call for help in which one of the students said they were near water.

No calls were made to 911, police said.

Tuhy said the calls, which authorities were able to localize by the cellphone towers used, were critical in leading searchers to the vehicle. The "pings" — signals sent from a cellphone to a provider tower, or vice-versa — helped narrow the search area.

Tuhy said it wasn't clear if emergency crews might have been able to reach the women had they called 911 instead of their friends.

"There could have probably been some location formed out of that [Sunday night] if it would have been timely enough, I don't know," he said.

Family to visit pond site

Family members of the women planned Wednesday to visit the site northwest of Dickinson, a city of 16,000 people that is about 160 kilometres west of Bismarck. Neufeld's mother, Bev Neufeld, said her family was trying to be strong.

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

The investigation into the deaths is expected to take at least two weeks, officials said. Autopsies are scheduled to take place Wednesday but authorities do not expect results for a week or two.

Investigators are also checking the vehicle for any defects.

Counselling offered to students

Classes at Dickinson State were cancelled on Wednesday and counselling services are being offered to teammates and the college's 2,700 students, school officials said. A memorial service is also being planned for the women.

"This is a time when not only the campus but also the community of Dickinson and the area at large is coming together.… we want to say thank you to all of those individuals who have expressed words of sympathy and kind thoughts," said Richard McCallum, president of Dickinson State University.

"It is times like this that we realize our sense of humanity and our sense of connection."

'We are going to mobilize all of our resources to work with the families and the students on campus.'—Constance Walter, director of university relations

A prayer service was held Tuesday night at the campus, said Constance Walter, director of university relations. She said the three popular young women were important not only to the university softball team, but to the entire student population.

"We are very deeply saddened by this turn of events," Walter said through long pauses to fight off tears. "And we are going to mobilize all of our resources to work with the families and the students on campus."

Gemar's father, Lenny, said Tuesday night after the prayer service that "it's the worst day of my life."

The college lists Gemar as a senior business major who played third base on the softball team. Neufeld was a senior outfielder who was working on a degree in psychology, and Williamson, a junior, was a pitcher majoring in psychology with a minor in coaching.

Neufeld was 'always smiling, always laughing'

Jim Nay coached Neufeld for several years in Brandon and is a close friend of her family. He said the young woman touched a lot of lives.

"People would go to the ballpark to see Ashley. Not just to see her play, but to see her, because they knew of her, they'd seen her in a teaching environment or whatever," he said. "It's just that she was that personable. I don't know of anybody that did not like Ashley."

Dustin Monke, sports editor for the Dickinson Press, knew Neufeld during the entire time she played college softball in North Dakota.

"She's the kind of girl that a guy wants to bring home to his mother. She's always smiling, always laughing. She was just having a good time and was just the sweetest person," he said.

"You know, she's one of those people, you kind of look around and you can't believe she's gone."

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press