Two Virginia Tech students, Natalie M. Keepers and David E. Eisenhauer, have been charged in connection to the alleged murder of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, who lived in Blacksburg, Va. Eisenhauer was charged with murder and felony abduction, while Keepers assisted him.
The arrest of Keepers came quickly after police arrested 18-year-old student athlete Eisenhauer for the abduction of Lovell. The middle schooler disappeared from her home last Wednesday and was missing for four days before Eisenhauer was arrested in his dorm on Saturday. Just hours after his arrest, Lovell’s body and remains were found in Surry County, N.C., and Eisenhauer was immediately charged with first-degree murder. A motive has not yet been determined.
Eisenhauer was a member of the Virginia Tech track team and was a top high school runner in Maryland.
“We’re all just in utter shock,” Joe Keating, one of Eisenhauer’s former high school teammates, told The Washington Post. “We can’t get our heads around it.”
According to the Blacksburg Police Department and USA Today, Lovell and Eiserhauer knew each other prior to the murder and they claimed that Eisenhauer “used this relationship to his advantage to abduct the 13-year-old and then kill her.” Lovell’s family members discovered a piece of furniture pushed up against her bedroom door and suspected that she climbed out of her window.
Officials were able to make such a quick arrest of Eisenhauer because of the outpour of support and tips from members of the community.
“The entire Virginia Tech community extends its support to Nicole’s family and friends,” the Virginia Tech Police Department said in a statement. “The university is also reaching out to our campus community and the greater New River Valley community who may be affected by the events that have occurred over the past several days.”
Keepers and Eisenhauer are currently being held in jail without bond.