A Virginia Tech student was charged Saturday with first-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old Virginia girl whose body was found in North Carolina.
Nicole Madison Lovell’s body was found in Surrey County, N.C., Blacksburg, Virginia, police said late Saturday.
David E. Eisenhauer, 18, of Columbia, Maryland and a freshman at Virginia Tech, was being held without bond at the Montgomery County Jail in Maryland, according to WTTG.
He was initially arrested and charged with abduction in coection with Lovell’s disappearance, according to The Roanoke Times.
Police didn’t give any details on how the girl was killed or how she and Eisenhauer knew each other.
“This investigation is far from over. The focus of the investigation is now to reconstruct a timeline leading up to (the teen's) tragic death,” Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson said. “This is the most devastating thing you can do to a family. We’ve got some very wounded folks in our community.”
Officials said they received an outpouring of tips and support from communities in Maryland and Virginia which is how they made the arrest fairly quickly.
“The entire Virginia Tech community extends its support to (the girl’s) family and friends,” the Virginia Tech Police Department said in a statement. “The university is also reaching out to our campus community and the greater New River Valley community who may be affected by the events that have occurred over the past several days.”
Authorities from both Maryland and Virginia were involved in the case with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI.
Updated Flyer.The Blacksburg Police Department is currently seeking information on a Missing/Endangered Child. Nicole...
Posted by Blacksburg Police Department on Thursday, January 28, 2016
The teen vanished from her home in Blacksburg on Jan. 27 between the hours of midnight Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday. The Roanoke Times reported the family found a dresser pushed against the girl’s bedroom door. Fred Hawks Jr., the girl’s uncle, told the paper the family believes she climbed out of a window to get out of the apartment complex where the family lived.
Eisenhauer was studying engineering, according to Virginia Tech. He was a member of the school’s cross country team, but wasn’t listed on the website Saturday.
Tracy Vosburgh, a Virginia Tech spokeswoman, said in a statement the school “has the authority to place a student on immediate interim suspension.”