Two Virginia Tech students were charged with murder, kidnapping and accessory today in the death of a 13-year-old girl who apparently climbed out her bedroom window and ended up dead in North Carolina.
David Eisenhauer, 18, of Columbia, Md., has been charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell.
Natalie Keepers, 19, of Laurel, Md., faces charges of improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony.
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“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,” a Blacksburg, Va., police statement said.
Nicole had been missing since Tuesday night. Police arrested Eisenhauer on Saturday in his dorm while Nicole was still missing. Charges were upgraded to murder after Nicole’s body was found later that day in Surry County, North Carolina, just over the border from Virginia. Keepers was arrested on Sunday morning.
Both students are sophomore engineering majors. Police haven’t released any statements on the relationship between the two suspects — but say they were close enough for Keepers to have helped move Nicole’s body.
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Nicole’s family said the young teen had sneaked out her bedroom window in Blacksburg on Tuesday.
Nicole’s mother, Tammy Weeks, said her daughter had survived a liver transplant, a MRSA infection and lymphoma when she was 5. “God got her through all that, and she fought through all that, and He took her life,” Tammy said.
She was also bullied mercilessly in school and via social media by girls who called her fat and talked about the scars from her transplant. Nicole often cried to stay home, Tammy added.
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“She was an awesome little girl. She was an angel here on Earth, and she’s an angel now,” said family friend Davy Draper.
Both Eisenhauer and Keepers were being held without bond at the Montgomery County Jail. Keepers’ next court date is March 28.
Eisenhauer was a standout track and field athlete named Boys Indoor Track Performer of the Year by “The Baltimore Sun” in March. Eisenhauer is currently missing from the roster of the Virginia Tech track team on the college’s website.
