Family and friends remember Nicole Lovell on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance on Jan. 27, 2021. January 27 is a day Tammy Weeks-Dowdy will never forget. Five years ago, she learned her daughter Nicole Lovell was missing. [Nicole Lovell: A timeline of the years since her disappearance]To honor Nicole’s memory on this anniversary, family and friends gathered at her final resting place. David Eisenhauer is spending 50 years in prison, found guilty of first-degree murder, abduction and hiding Nicole’s body.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – The woman convicted in connection with the death of a Blacksburg girl in 2016 won’t see her appeal move forward in the Virginia Supreme Court. The court denied Natalie Keepers’ petition for appeal on Wednesday. In September 2018, a jury found Keepers guilty of being an accessory before the fact in the first-degree murder of Nicole Lovell. In April, Keepers and her legal team attempted an appeal on the grounds that her original trial was unfair. However, the Virginia Court of Appeals didn’t agree with Keepers and her legal team and it affirmed the conviction by the trial court.

BLACKSBURG, Va. – An appeals court upheld the conviction of Natalie Keepers by a lower court for her role in the murder of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, according to court documents. Statements Keepers made to police were included in the original trial Two specific jurors were not removed despite the defense’s requestHowever, the Virginia Court of Appeals didn’t agree with Keepers and her legal team and it affirmed the conviction by the trial court. According to opinion notes in court documents, the appellate court stated that the trial court did not make a mistake in allowing statements Keepers made to police to be included and that there was no problem with the inclusion of the two jurors Keepers took issue with. Going forward, Keepers can ask to have the appeal heard by the entire Court of Appeals (en banc) or she can appeal the decision directly to the Virginia Supreme Court, according to Pettitt. Lovell’s family released the following statement in October when the appeals court agreed to review Keepers’ case:“This appeal is demeaning to Nicole Lovell and our family.

On Monday, the Court of Appeals of Virginia agreed to review Natalie Keepers' case. In September 2018, a jury found Keepers guilty of being an accessory before the fact in the first-degree murder of Nicole Lovell. Nicole Lovell's family issued this statement in response to the court's decision:"This appeal is demeaning to Nicole Lovell and our family. This case has drug our family in and out of court rooms and caused many heartaches that is unrepairable. We as a family thought that Natalie Keepers received a light sentence like her co-defendant.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY (WSLS 10) - Police talked to Natalie Keepers for more than 24 hours over the course of two days and it's all on video or audio recordings, according to testimony at her hearing on Tuesday. Recordings also detailed Keepers explaining how Eisenhauer made up a code in the event she was in police custody. MONTGOMERY COUNTY (WSLS 10) - Prosecutors spent much of Tuesday morning playing video and audio recordings during motions hearings for Natalie Keepers. She went in to explain how Eisenhauer asked her to "give him 24-hour headstart" if police questioned her. On January 31, Blacksburg police made arrested 19-year-old Natalie Keepers and charged her with improper disposal of a dead body and accessory after the fact.

CHRISTIANSBURG (WSLS 10) -- David Eisenhauer's preliminary hearing scheduled for March 28 is being delayed. Eisenhauer, the former Virginia Tech Student accused of first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, was scheduled to appear in Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Monday. The hearing for Natalie Keepers, the second person facing charges in the case, has also been rescheduled. Eisenhauer is charged with abduction and first-degree murder in the death of Lovell. Keepers, also a former Virginia Tech student, is charged with accessory before and after the fact to the murder and improper disposal of a body.

BLACKSBURG (WSLS 10) - Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers is now charged with accessory before the fact to willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation kill and murder Nicole Lovell in the 1st degree. Nicole Lovell, 13, was found dead Jan. 30, 2016, three days after she went missing. The 19-year-old Keepers is still charged with unlawful disposal of a body and accessory after the fact, according to Pettitt. "Multiple agencies are seeking justice for Nicole and her family," Albert said, " We will be vigilant in the days, weeks, and months ahead." Lovell's official autopsy results may not be back until the preliminary hearings for Eisenhauer and Keepers in March, Pettitt said.

CHRISTIANSBURG (WSLS 10) -- David Lovell walked into the Montgomery County courthouse Monday looking for answers in the death of his daughter, 13-year-old Nicole Lovell. 18-year-old David Eisenhauer is charged with felony abduction, which occurred on or about January 27, 2016 and first degree murder, which occurred on or about January 30, 2016, according to arrest warrants. Arrest warrants did; however, reveal new information. These are all details David Lovell knows will become harder to hear. Blacksburg police confirmed Saturday that Nicole Lovell was found dead, her remains found in Surry, NC.