Three US college athletes have been found dead in a submerged car three days after the women made desperate phone calls begging for help as the vehicle sank.
Ashley Neufeld, Kyrstin Gemar and Afton Williamson played softball for Dickinson State University in North Dakota and were driving near a farm to the northwest of the campus on Sunday night when they struck trouble, KTLA.com reports.
Two friends of the students received "hysterical" calls for help that mentioned a lake and water before the lines went dead.
One of the friends who received a call alerted authorities, triggering a three-day search that eventually uncovered vehicle tracks leading into a 4m-deep pond and an oil slick on top of the water.
A 1997 Jeep Cherokee was pulled from the bottom of the pond a few hours later and the bodies of the students were found inside.
Police said the vehicle would be checked for defects but it is not yet clear how it ended up in the pond.
Earlier in the week, the father of one of the students said they often went star gazing near a lake.
Kyrstin Gemar's father Lenny told Good Morning America in a telephone interview that the women would hang out by Patterson Lake.
He described Dickinson as a "pretty small town" without an active nightlife and said the teammates routinely drove to a lake to stargaze and chat.
It is believed they attempted something similar at the pond, which is used by cattle.
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