Quote, originally posted by http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/04/local-athlete-is-found-dead-in-nd-pond/ »
A former Grossmont College softball player was among three North Dakota college students found dead yesterday in a vehicle pulled from a pond two days after they went missing.
Dickinson, N.D., police Lt. Rod Banyai said he believes the women were in the white 1997 Jeep Cherokee when they made two cell phone calls to friends for help, but he didn't know whether the vehicle was already under water when the calls were made.
Banyai said the pond on a farm northwest of Dickinson is about 12 feet deep. He said police are investigating the cause of the deaths and autopsies are planned.
The women were identified as Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego; Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore; and Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. All attended Dickinson State University, where they were stars on the school's softball team.
Gemar's parents, Lenny and Claire Gemar, who live in Clairemont, went to North Dakota on Monday and had been spending time with the parents of the other two women.
During a news conference at police headquarters, before the bodies were found, the Gemars said they had talked to their daughter late Saturday night. Lenny Gemar said it was not uncommon for Kyrstin and her friends to go stargazing on the spur of the moment.
Police and emergency crews had covered a 13-square-mile area using airplanes, patrol cars and all-terrain vehicles. Vehicle tracks leading into the pond were found yesterday afternoon, and searchers in an airplane flying over the site saw oil on top of the water, Banyai said.
The submerged vehicle was pulled from the water about two hours later. Banyai said the vehicle will be checked for defects. He said authorities don't know how the Jeep got into the pond.
Law enforcement narrowed the search area after figuring out which cell phone tower relayed two short phone calls placed by one of the women to a friend late Sunday, Banyai said.
Police described the first call as a “very scratchy” call for help that mentioned the women were near a lake and water.
Kyrstin Gemar, a senior majoring in business administration, played softball for two years at Grossmont College, starting in 2006, helping to lead the team to two Pacific Coast Conference championships. She also played at Clairemont High. After recovering from a rotator cuff injury, Gemar attended Dickinson State, where she had a full scholarship, said Rick Trestrail, her coach at Grossmont College.
Trestrail said Gemar was recruited heavily and could have been a Division I player, but she wanted a smaller program where she could be part of a more personal environment.
Even after going away to college, Gemar would return to Grossmont to visit with former teammates and her coach, sitting in the dugout during games when she was in town on breaks.
Reached at his home in Alpine last night, Trestrail said he felt “numb” when he learned the news of Gemar's death.
“For parents, it's their worst nightmare,” he said.
Trestrail said that in his 40 years of coaching, 14 in softball, Gemar was among his top five student-athletes, and her parents attended virtually all her games.
“The two years she played for me ... she was my captain and my most valuable player,” Trestrail said. “There's not anybody I trusted more on the field.”
But she wasn't just about athletics, he said.
“She was very global. Her world wasn't just softball. It was also academics,” Trestrail said. “It didn't surprise me at all that she had gotten into stargazing. She enjoyed a lot of different things and was a very well-rounded person. ... Everyone loved her.”
Lenny Gemar said teammates nicknamed Kyrstin “Mama K” because she looked out for other people and had a nurturing nature.
“She's a good friend to everybody,” he said.
Students at the university led a prayer service Monday night that drew more than 300 people. Another service was scheduled last night at the 2,700-student school.
One of the girls went to my school. Should I feel bad that the first thing I think of if The Office episode where Michael Scott follows gps into a lake?
Eugene Leafty Fungi produce 13% of all the CO2 in the atmosphere, my motorcycle produces over 100 gallons of H2O per year.
PinkSockDubz #1 The Minivan I only replied twice, now three times, to this thread because I have a chronic disease called PWS (postwhoresyndrome) which causes me to post many times per day, It's at the point where I can't even control myself anymore, any computer I'm near I steal so I can post in TCL
I'm sorry, but why the hell didn't they break a window out?
Supposedly windows of submerged vehicles are hard enough to break that there's a special tool expressly for that purpose. Or maybe the girls were injured while driving into the pond such that they didn't have the mobility or strength to break that window. We may never know.
Eugene Leafty Fungi produce 13% of all the CO2 in the atmosphere, my motorcycle produces over 100 gallons of H2O per year.
the current generation of youngsters makes me think that perhaps the bygone ages of plague, technological primitiveness, natural selection and ultraviolence were in fact good for the human race.
If the car was equipped with power locks, then I suppose those stop working under water? Some cars like in my Passat, the lock goes all the way down and you can't unlock yourself.
Aftermarket window tint would also make breaking the windows tougher.
Now I realize why in the MB why the locks dont go all the way down. For situations like these. And how screwed I would be if I drive into pond with the Passat.
Volkswagen - The German car the Japanese wished they made.
True if the door locks become flush with the door when locked, then no, you can't get a grasp on them to pull up. However pulling on the inner door handle should open the door.
?? i was under the assumption the inside door handle was mechanically linked to the lock mechanism
They are.
But overall, a car into a body of water is a tough situation to get out of if you don't think ahead. The first reaction might be to stay put since some will think that the water will not enter the car. This may be reasonable for a few seconds as cars initially float. The next reaction will be to get out when the car starts filling with water. Panic ensues, and the water pressure on the outside could make it VERY difficult to open the door. In addition, imagine the impact of the vehicle with the water to begin with....highly probably that the occupants hit their heads on the steering wheel/windows/etc and are slightly dazed.
Easy to speculate from your arm chair, but i'm sure it's not an easy situation to get out of given the actual circumstances.
This is weird. A coworker of mine went to school with them and knew the girls personally. He told me about this last night. Now I hear about it here. I guess it is a small world, considering that I live in Norcal.
This is weird. A coworker of mine went to school with them and knew the girls personally. He told me about this last night. Now I hear about it here. I guess it is a small world, considering that I live in Norcal.
That must be a trip for your friend. I hate to talk about this at school because I don't get sad about lost lives even when those that die are lost to me, and I'd probably upset someone that knew them.
Eugene Leafty Fungi produce 13% of all the CO2 in the atmosphere, my motorcycle produces over 100 gallons of H2O per year.
If the windows would've been kicked out, the ND water temps probably would've killed them quicker. Hypothermia is a mf'er.
Oh, and is "stargazing" what the kids are calling hittin' the weed these days?
"How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." - R.R.
That must be a trip for your friend. I hate to talk about this at school because I don't get sad about lost lives even when those that die are lost to me, and I'd probably upset someone that knew them.
"How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." - R.R.
I don't see the need to get all teary for the deceased. If you believe in God they either went to a better place or are getting what they deserve in hell, and if you don't believe in a god, then what's to feel bad about when there's no such thing as a soul or afterlife?
Anyway, I just posted because it strikes me that one of the girls is from my school....and it surprised me that this hadn't been posted even though it happened a couple days ago.
Eugene Leafty Fungi produce 13% of all the CO2 in the atmosphere, my motorcycle produces over 100 gallons of H2O per year.
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