WASHINGTON — The Virginia Tech student accused of killing 13-year-old Nicole Lovell had communicated with her using the screen name “Dr_Tombstone” on the anonymous social messaging app Kik, police records show.
A search warrant obtained by The Roanoke Times shows that investigators were able to connect the suspect, David Eisenhauer, to the otherwise anonymous app through records they obtained from the app’s developers.
According to the documents, the search for Lovell turned almost immediately to social media the morning the teenager had gone missing in late January.
The FBI brought in a “cyber squad” agent to help investigate, contacting Kik to request Lovell’s usage records on the app. Through those records, investigators found that Lovell had only communicated with the “Dr_Tombstone” account in the days before her death.
Kik was also the last social media account she used before her death.
Records from the developer showed that “Dr_Tombstone” belonged to someone listed as “David A.” and was connected to a Gmail account that would eventually be connected to Eisenhauer.
Eisenhauer, who is from Columbia, Maryland, is charged with kidnapping and killing Lovell. Both he and his co-defendant, Natalie Keepers, are expected to be back in a Montgomery County, Virginia, court March 28.
