Slain 13-year-old not shot; Va Tech students held

Columbia resident and Wilde Lake High School alum David E. Eisenhauer, 18, is due in a Virginia court house at 10 a.m. He is charged with abducting and murdering Nicole Lovell and dumping her body in North Carolina.

By TOM FOREMAN Jr.

High school principals for two college freshmen accused in the slaying of a 13-year-old girl say they are shocked their former students face charges.

– The motive: Authorities have not said why Eisenhauer would have committed 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.

Nicole’s mother, Tammy Weeks, told The Washington Post that her daughter apparently met Eisenhauer online a few weeks ago.

Blacksburg police Lt. Mike Albert has said Eisenhauer and Lovell “were acquainted” before her disappearance Wednesday from her home in the Lantern Ridge apartment complex in Blacksburg, where family members found a dresser pushed up against her door. They are scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on March 28.

Keepers, handcuffed and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, appeared to cry softly as a judge read her charges.

The office of Keepers’ attorney, Kristopher Olin, declined to comment. Neither had a prior criminal record.

A stellar athlete on the Wilde Lake cross country and track teams, Eisenhauer previously attracted the attention of local news after stand-out running seasons. The Sun said Eisenhauer had moved to Columbia from Yakima, Washington, for his junior year and quickly became a star on the East Coast.

Even when she didn’t go to school, bullies kept harassing her online, Weeks said.

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 has not confessed and did not provide information that led to the body.

– The evidence: Police divers have been searching a pond on the campus; a spokeswoman would not say what for.

“God got her through all that, and she fought through all that, and he took her life”, Weeks said. “She was telling me that girls were saying she was fat and talking about her scars from her transplant”. Her distraught dad put out a desperate plea on social media: “Nicole, honey, if you see this if you’re out there you can come to me”.

A school official says additional counselors were brought in to Blacksburg Middle School to help students grieving over the death of their classmate. Drake said she could not confirm that because of privacy laws, but she said the county’s schools have anti-bullying programs.

Davy Draper, who said he’s a close family friend of the Lovells and knew the teen most of her life, called her an energetic and outspoken girl who got along with everyone.

Some of the girl’s friends learned of her death Saturday night at a candlelight vigil held near her home, reported CNN affiliate WFXR.

Many people there just learned Sunday of Lovell’s death, and he says the reaction is unanimous.

Eisenhauer’s parents could not be reached for comment.

Contributors include Associated Press writers Juliet Linderman in Maryland, and Larry O’Dell and Alanna Durkin Richer in Richmond, Virginia.