2 Virginia Tech students arrested in connection with death of 13-year-old girl


Two Virginia Tech engineering students have been arrested and charged in connection with the abduction and murder of a 13-year-old girl from Blacksburg, Virginia.
Authorities arrested David Eisenhauer, 18, of Columbia, Maryland, at his dorm on Saturday. He was first charged with abduction, and hours later charged with first-degree murder after police found the remains of Nicole Madison Lovell on Route 89 in Surry County, North Carolina, The Washington Post reports. On Sunday, Natalie Marie Keepers, 19, of Laurel, Maryland, was arrested off campus on felony charges for allegedly assisting with disposal of the body and a misdemeanor for her alleged role as an accessory after the fact, police said. Blacksburg Police Lt. Mike Albert said Eisenhauer knew Lovell, and "used this relationship to his advantage to abduct the 13-year-old and then kill her."
Lovell went missing on Wednesday around midnight, and her mother, Tammy Weeks, told the Post she found a nightstand against her bedroom door and the window ajar. Lovell, the youngest of four children, survived a liver transplant, MRSA, and lymphoma when she was 5, and was bullied by classmates because of her transplant scars, Weeks said. Police told Weeks her daughter may have recently met Eisenhauer on social media, on some "off-the-wall site I never heard of." Both Eisenhauer and Keepers are being held without bond.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushback
Cartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
By The Week US
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK
-
Merz's coalition deal: a 'betrayal' of Germany?
Talking Point With liberalism, freedom and democracy under threat globally, it's a time for 'giants' – but this is a 'coalition of the timid'
By The Week UK
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglers
speed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Judge ends Eric Adams case, Trump leverage
Speed Read Federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams were dismissed, as requested by Trump's Justice Department
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Texas arrests midwife on felony abortion charges
Speed Read Maria Margarita Rojas and an employee at one of her clinics are the first to be criminally charged under Texas' near-total abortion ban
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squad
speed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Mexico extradites 29 cartel figures amid US tariff threat
Speed Read The extradited suspects include Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought after killing a US narcotics agent
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Leonard Peltier released from prison
Speed Read The Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents had his life sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years
Speed Read The former New Jersey senator was convicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last year
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Police ID driver of exploded Cybertruck, can't see motive
Speed Read An Army Green Beret detonated a homemade bomb in a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US