Drowned students were not trespassing

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Police say three college softball players who drowned when their sport utility vehicle went into a pond in a southwestern North Dakota pasture were not trespassing on private property.

Dickinson Police Lt. Rod Banyai said there were no signs posted on the land telling people to stay out. He said there was nothing legally stopping the students from driving into the pasture.

The bodies of 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar of San Diego, 20-year-old Afton Williamson of Lake Elsinore, Calif.; and 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld, of Brandon, Manitoba, were found Nov. 3 inside Gemar’s SUV, which was submerged in about 10 feet of water in the livestock pond about 10 miles northwest of Dickinson.

The women were be-lieved to have gone on a stargazing trip two nights earlier. Authorities said they had not been drinking or using drugs, and likely got lost and drove into the water in the darkness.

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