BLACKSBURG, Va. — Two Virginia Tech students who had bright futures appeared before a judge Monday in the death of a seventh-grade girl who was active on social media and apparently climbed out her bedroom window.
Nicole Madison Lovell, 13, was described as “an awesome little girl” who had a tough life — she survived a liver transplant as a youngster and suffered from bullying at middle school and online, her mother said.
Police found her body on Saturday, four days after she disappeared. David Eisenhauer, 18, is charged with her kidnapping and first-degree murder. Natalie Keepers, 19, is charged with improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony.
Police in Blacksburg, Va., said they have evidence showing Eisenhauer knew the girl before she disappeared, but have not released any details about what led up to her death.
“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 police statement said.
Eisenhauer’s hearing happened ahead of schedule and out of sight of reporters on Monday. Keepers appeared later, handcuffed and shackled in an orange jumpsuit. She told Judge Robert Viar Jr. she understands the charges. Both have lawyers; neither one commented.
The arrests of the engineering majors shocked people who knew them in high school, where they lived nearby each other in Maryland. Neither had prior criminal records, police said.
Nicole’s family said they discovered Wednesday morning that she had apparently blocked her bedroom door with furniture and climbed out a window overnight.
Eisenhauer was arrested Saturday, hours before Nicole’s remains were found in Surry County, North Carolina, a two-hour drive from campus. Blacksburg police Chief Anthony Wilson told The Roanoke Times that Eisenhauer did not provide information that led to the body.
Nicole was just 5 years old when she survived a liver transplant, MRSA (a drug-resistant bacterial infection) and lymphoma, her mother, Tammy Weeks, told The Washington Post.
Nicole didn’t like going to school because girls called her fat and talked about her transplant scars. “It got so bad I wouldn’t send her,” Weeks said, but the bullying continued on social media.
Nicole’s classmates were grieving Monday at Blacksburg Middle School, where 10 counselors were brought in to support them, Montgomery County schools spokeswoman Brenda Drake said.
