BLACKSBURG, Va. — Two Virginia Tech engineering students have been arrested in connection with the death of a 13-year-old girl whose disappearance last week from her Virginia home set off a frantic, four-day search.
Blacksburg Police say David Eisenhauer, 18, was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder and abduction in the death of Nicole Madison Lovell, who disappeared from her home Wednesday. Natalie Keepers, 19, of Laurel, Md., was arrested Sunday and faces charges of improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony.
Both are being held without bond at the Montgomery County Jail. A spokesman for the Blacksburg Police Department said officials would not know until Monday when the two would make their first court appearances.
Police said they have evidence showing that Eisenhauer and Lovell knew each other before she disappeared.
“Eisenhauer used this relationship to his advantage to abduct the 13-year-old and then kill her. Keepers helped Eisenhauer dispose of Nicole’s body,” Blacksburg police said in a statement.
The investigation remained under way Sunday as a state police search and recovery team searched a pond on the Virginia Tech Campus. Police Spokeswoman Corrinne Geller would not say what officials were trying to find.
Virginia State Police located Lovell’s remains Saturday afternoon in Surry County, N.C., just over the Virginia border. Hours later, police announced the arrest of Eisenhauer, a freshman from Columbia, Md.
Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson told The Roanoke Times that Eisenhauer has not confessed to involvement in Lovell’s death and did not give police information that led to the discovery of her body.
Police initially charged Eisenhauer with abduction; he was charged with murder once the girl’s remains were found.
The girl had been missing since last week. Her family says she disappeared after pushing a dresser in front of her bedroom door and climbing out a window. Lovell’s family members did not immediately return messages seeking comment Sunday.
Davy Draper, who said he’s a close family friend and knew Lovell most of her life, said she had a liver transplant when she was a child and had to take daily medication. Despite her health problems, Draper said Lovell was an energetic and outspoken girl who got along with everyone.
