Two Virginia Tech students have been arrested in relation to the abduction and murder of 13-year-old Blacksburg resident Nicole M. Lovell.
Lovell went missing around midnight on Jan. 27. The four-day search for Lovell ended Jan. 30 when Virginia State Police discovered her remains on Route 89 in Surry County, N.C., nearly 100 miles from Blacksburg.
Before Lovell’s remains were found, 18-year-old David E. Eisenhauer was arrested and charged with the abduction of Lovell. Eisenhauer is a freshman at Virginia Tech and is from Columbia, Md.
Once Lovell’s remains were discovered, Eisenhauer was additionally charged with first-degree murder. Eisenhauer is being held in the Montgomery County jail without bond.
On Jan. 31, a second arrest was made in connection with the case. Natalie M. Keepers was arrested on Sunday morning and is being held at the Montgomery County jail without bond. Keepers is a sophomore at Virginia Tech and is originally from Laurel, Md.
Keepers was charged with one felony count of improper disposal of a dead body and one misdemeanor count of accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony.
Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson commented on the case’s progress and the timeline moving forward in a press release Saturday.
“This has been an extremely fast investigation … and we still have a great deal to do as there are multiple interviews to conduct and evidence to collected and analyzed as we reconstruct the timeline of events leading up to Nicole’s tragic death,” Wilson said.