2 Virginia Tech students arrested after 13-year-old girl's body found in NC

SURRY COUNTY, NC -- A second Virginia Tech student has been arrested in connection with the death of a 13-year-old girl who disappeared earlier this week.

Virginia Tech issued a statement Sunday confirming the arrest of Natalie Marie Keepers, a sophomore at the school.

Keepers is the second person to be arrested in the death of Nicole Madison Lovell, whose body was found in North Carolina on Saturday. She has been missing from her home in Blacksburg since the middle of last week.

WSET reports that Lovell's remains were found around 4 p.m. just over the border from Virginia.

Lovell's family said she pushed a dresser in front of her bedroom door and climbed out a window Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

David Eisenhauer, an 18-year-old Virginia Tech freshman and cross country runner, is charged with murder and felony abduction. He is being held without bond at Montgomery County jail.

Police are working with the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, the FBI office in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office to gather more information, according to Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson. He said Lovell's body was to be taken to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke.

"This has been an extremely fast-paced investigation in just the past 12 hours," Wilson said at a news conference late Saturday.

The Roanoke Times reports Lovell's remains were found near U.S. 89. Lovell's exact cause of death was not determined.

The Times newspaper quoted Wilson as saying that Eisenhauer has not confessed to involvement in Lovell's death and did not give police information that led to the discovery of her body. No information was given on how Lovell and Eisenhauer had initially made contact with each other.

According to the Times, Eisenhauer was arrested Thursday morning in connection with Lovell's disappearance and charged with abduction. Once her remains were found, he was charged with first-degree murder.

Virginia Tech police released the following statement:

The entire Virginia Tech community extends its support to Nichole's family and friends. 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.

According to Virginia Tech police, Eisenhauer is from Columbia, Maryland, and is a freshman majoring in engineering.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.