Going West: True Crime - Nicole Lovell // 471

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

In January of 2016, a 13-year-old Virginia girl snuck out of her bedroom in the middle of the night, headed to meet up with someone she had befriended online. But unbeknownst to her, she was being groomed by a young man who had horrific plans for her. When her mother discovered she was missing, and the police and FBI became involved, they quickly found the identity of their suspect, with a second person coming forth with a terrifying confession. This is the story of Nicole Lovell.

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host Heath and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west. Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well today. This case was recommended to us by Laura and Tammy, so thank you both so much. This is a horrific story about online grooming and kind of how easy it can be to get caught in a trap from somebody hiding behind their computer screen. Yes, it is an absolutely devastating story for numerous different reasons, and our hearts

really go out to Nicole and her family. Just what a tragic story all around. And if you guys want to see photos from this case and every other case we cover you guys can do that by heading over to our socials. We are on Instagram at going west podcast and we're also on Facebook. So without further ado let's dive into this one. All right, guys, this is episode 471 of Going West. So let's get into it. In January of 2016, a 13-year-old Virginia girl snuck out of her bedroom in the middle of the night, headed to meet up with someone she had befriended online. But unbeknownst to her, she was being groomed by a young man who had horrific plans.

When her mother discovered she was missing and the police and FBI became involved, they quickly found the identity of their suspect, with a second person coming forth with a terrifying confession. This is the story of Nicole Lovell was born on May 3rd, 2002 to parents Tammy and David in Blacksburg, Virginia, which is near the border of West Virginia, and it's known for being the home of Virginia Tech University.

Yes, the Hokies. You're always pulling through with the university mascots. Yes, I am. Now, Nicole's life had a pretty uncertain start. She was actually born with a defective liver, and when doctors discovered a tumor, she was forced born with a defective liver and when doctors discovered a tumor She was forced to undergo a transplant at just 10 months old She was then required to take anti-rejection medication for the rest of her life

Which we are gonna bring up in a little bit And this was just in order to ensure that her immune system didn't try to fight off her new organ and things did seem to Be going okay for her at first, but less than four years later, Nicole was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and she fell into a coma around the young age of five. During this time, she also contracted a bacterial infection and was given a grim prognosis. But against all odds, little Nicole survived and she was back on the up

and up. Now, aside from her health struggles, Nicole's parents split up before she was born, bringing her three half-siblings named Blaine, Anthony, and Mackenzie. And she spent her childhood living primarily with her mom because her father David had multiple run-ins with the the law and he did spend time in and out of prison. But he also later expressed regrets at not being there for his daughter more. But I do want to say he was in her life.

She just spent a lot more time with her mom. She was a lot closer to her mom. But as we're also going to mention, he was definitely a part of some decisions. And of course, he really cared about his daughter. But her mother Tammy did everything that she could to make up for her father's absence in her life, with Tammy being remembered as Nicole's constant and her greatest advocate. Like it's well known that she did everything she could to make sure her daughter lived a happy, well-adjusted life despite her health challenges as well.

Their family spokesperson Kenny said later, quote, she was a good mother. She was very protective of Nicole. So let's get into Nicole's young teenage life a little bit. So Nicole is described as a smiley, cheerful presence in her family and at Blacksburg Middle School, where she began seventh grade in the fall of 2015. Nicole was also known to be very compassionate, for example she absolutely hated cruelty of any kind, especially towards animals as her mom says, and she would always stand up for others who were getting bullied or treated unkindly. But unfortunately she

herself was a frequent target of the bullies at her school for the scarring that she had on her body due to her childhood surgeries. So it was hard for her to feel appreciated for who she was by those around her, because these kids were just such assholes to her. Even though she was nothing but kind to everybody that she encountered. Her mom Tammy remembered sadly, quote, she hated going to school. She even frequently posted on social media about feeling overlooked, so it was clear that she felt left out of the crowd. Although it would sometimes add to her anxiety and feelings of loneliness, Tammy explained that Nicole was basically always on her phone.

And when her online activity was carefully tracked after her disappearance, there were numerous signs that she had been struggling, including her post in a group on Facebook called Teen Dating and Flirting, which has now been shut down. And the post was basically just a photo of herself alongside the question, cute or nah. And this post garnered over 300 comments, many of which were degrading and derogatory, which is just so sad. Nicole was also found to be talking to older men on social media, likely unable to discern that it was not actually a fellow teenager that she was talking to. And I mean even if she did, you know, she was only 13 and she just, it seems like she really just wanted some sort of validation from someone,

which is so normal, especially at that age. And having access to the internet where, you know, you can maybe find someone outside of your circle or outside your school that can appreciate you. And of course she didn't know that this could be dangerous. She just wanted to feel wanted, like, you know, maybe some other girls at her school may have been. And that just kind of goes with the danger of it all, you know? It's a person finding validation online, and there are just too many creeps out there in the world that are paying attention to these young girls that are online.

And I mean, even before her disappearance, her mom noticed that the internet was having more of a negative effect on Nicole, so her mom took away her phone for a period of time and restricted her use on social media. But against her wishes, she went back on social media platforms that seemed to be causing her so much pain. Kenny later remarked that Tammy, quote, had tried to stay on top of her daughter's online presence but that she was, quote, not aware of the extent of Nicole's social media activity. Despite all of this, she was known for her upbeat attitude.

She loved pandas, she loved listening to music and dancing, and she would frequently be found singing because she absolutely dreamed of one day being on American Idol. Because although she had faced more adversity at 13 than most of her peers, Tammy remembers her daughter as happy-go-lucky with huge goals for herself. On the morning of Wednesday, January 27th, 2016, around 7am, Tammy woke up to an eerily silent household which was a bit strange because usually Nicole would already be awakened about but when Tammy went to the door in Nicole's bedroom and tried to open it and check on her there was a resistance against the back of the door which was obviously concerning because Tammy was pushing and pushing on the door and it was hardly budging.

So after pushing as hard as she could, Tammy realized that Nicole's nightstand had been pushed up against the back of the door on the inside. But once she was able to get in, Tammy also noticed how cold the room was and then she saw that the window had been left open. And on top of that, Nicole, her cell phone, and her beloved blanket featuring the minions from Despicable Me were missing from her bedroom, along with her black jeans, a gray striped shirt,

and her cowboy boots. So Tammy began to panic right away, not only because she had no idea where her 13-year-old daughter was and why her room was in this state, but also because of Nicole's, like I mentioned, necessary twice-daily, life-saving medication that she needed ever since she got her liver transplant many, many, many years earlier.

So Tammy called Nicole's father, David, to ask if he had seen or heard from her, but he had not, and neither had any of the other family members or friends that she contacted. Thus, Tammy reported her daughter missing that morning and then immediately took to the streets to begin searching for her. And Tammy's first lead, while she was out there looking,

came in the form of a harrowing story from a neighbor. And this is such an important detail to the case, the fact that she was able to learn this so early on. This is a really important detail. Yeah, because it could have taken a lot longer for things to develop here. Yeah, or we couldn't have even gotten this information at all, and who knows where we would be today.

So basically, the day before this, on Tuesday, January 26, again, 2016, 13-year-old Nicole had been out sledding with eight-year-old twin girls from the neighborhood and actually told them that she had an exciting new relationship, giddily showing them pictures of her 18 year old boyfriend. She explained that he went to a nearby college and that they had a date that very night, so the night that she went missing.

Tammy's heart sank when she heard the story from the girl's mother because she knew nothing about this alleged boyfriend. So she passed on the information to police worried that he, you know, this boyfriend could have done something to her, especially considering he was years older and a legal adult. And that's why I mean how crazy this detail is because even the fact that the eight year old twin girls happened to tell their mom, they could have easily just forgotten about that or not cared enough to mention it at all because they're so young.

Yeah, I mean, they're 8-year-old girls. A detail like that probably wouldn't matter too much to them, but I'm glad that they did remember this. Absolutely. That could have easily slipped away. So because of this information, police suspected that Nicole's whereabouts may be concealed in her social media accounts. Yeah, I mean, they were absolutely considering this at this point, that maybe if they just

looked at her social media accounts, maybe they could find some sort of lead. And you know, she had shown a photo of this boyfriend of hers to the girls, so maybe there were traces of their conversations that could lead police to his identity. And thankfully, Nicole had actually scribbled the usernames and passwords of her social media accounts on her wall. And as police would uncover, against her parents' wishes, and without her mom and dad's knowledge, Nicole had been very active on the social media messaging app, Kik. And this was an app that was very popular at the time, but it's still one that millions and millions of people use.

And here's how the company describes itself, quote, "...a place to chat and message with all of your friends and to make new ones, no matter who you are and what device you're using." Kik is also known for group chatting and many users communicate with each other from other parts of the country or possibly even the world without having met in person, very similar to how you can use the app WhatsApp. When Nicole's parents restricted her phone use because her dad was also part of that decision, they made her remove the K kick app from her phone, but Nicole downloaded

it again unbeknownst to her parents, and unaware of the danger that it would pose in the near future. When investigators gained access to her kick account, they discovered that her last message was sent at 12.39am on the day that she disappeared, and it was a message to a user named Dr. Underscore Tombstone. So police subpoenaed Kick for the identity behind Dr. Tombstone, and fortunately, Kick did comply here. A spokesman for the app named Rod McCloud announced, quote, This involved responding to multiple emergency requests under our emergency disclosure request policy According to which we release certain account information to law enforcement agencies for cases that involve imminent threat of death

Loss of security or serious physical injury to any person Yeah, he's kind of just I think trying to back up kick saying oh We don't like just go ahead and spill all your information, but under these policies we did in this case. Well, and they kind of had to, which I'm glad that they did. Oh, absolutely. So the screen name of Dr. Tombstone belonged to a local teen named David Eisenhower, who was a freshman at nearby Virginia Tech. So this did line up with the small information that we had about him.

That, you know, he was a local young college student. Yep, which is obviously very disturbing, but it is lining up. Now, the FBI, who joined the search for Nicole in the beginning, tracked this Dr. Tombstone's IP address to David's dorm, proving further that it was him. Meanwhile, on January 28, 2016, the day after Nicole vanished because this is how fast they are working, the search for her expanded and local volunteer groups spilled into wooded areas combing for any sign of her. The next day on January 29, an infrared drone was utilized to search

for thermal energy but both searches brought up nothing so there was no proof of any you know persons down in the areas that they were searching you know they are looking for her body but while the community rallied around her family to mobilize ground searches. Her online activity and social media accounts revealed the secret that she had been keeping from her family because like her neighbor attested, Nicole had been talking to a man five years her senior whom she considered to be her boyfriend. And I'm sure a lot of people can agree with me here. You know, I vividly remember being this age and you really just think you're older.

You wanna be older. So I believe she really thought this was okay and that it was normal for an 18 year old man to be interested romantically in a 13 year old girl. I think a lot of us can relate to having been in that position. You know, especially considering that she felt very excited by the prospects of somebody liking her

and all the more exciting that it's an older boy, you know? Yeah, it's like things like this aren't a big deal when you're older, when both people are grown adults, five years, not a big deal. But when we're talking about an 18 year old compared to a 13 year old, the development is so different, right? Yeah. Like this is a man, an adult, and this is a young girl. Yeah, but I feel

like it's just kind of ingrained in us as a young teenager, like, oh no, I'm older, I'm a woman. That man can like me, I'm good enough, I'm cool enough. And it's like, no, no, no, if he likes likes you that's a problem like exactly But you don't know that unless you're told that which we should all tell girls this yeah And I don't really understand I guess just because I think it's a little different for guys that are that are that age when you're 13 you're not really Thinking about wanting to date an 18 year old woman. You know it's different. It's a little different So I mean did you in high school, did you ever know any guys that like they were seniors

and they were dating freshmen and stuff like that? No, no, no. I more so mean like I didn't personally and I didn't know anybody that did. But again, Nicole was in middle school, so she wasn't even in high school yet. Yeah, very true. But I remember when I was in middle school and I was 13 and I loved like, you know, pop punk bands. And there was all these boys that were, you know, 18 and 20 and whatever. And I was like, Oh, I, I could be with them. And it's like, no bitch, you're 13. But I didn't, you know,

again, in your mind, you're like, Oh, but I'm, I can act older. Like it's this weird thing that we think is okay. And it's like, I don't know. I just, it's just so sad that that is a real thing. But if you act on it and you're an older guy, if you're an 18 year old man or older and you're acting on a 13 year old girl, you're the problem. Yeah, exactly.

I was gonna say that this is not Nicole's problem. No. This is Dr. Tombstone, AKA David's problem. Yes. Well, prior to her disappearance, it became known that Nicole and David had met up on at least one occasion. This was not their first meeting that night. So knowing that David would hold the answers that they needed, Police apprehended him in Pulaski, Virginia. This is a town about 45 minutes southwest of Blacksburg. That is where Nicole lived.

So he was brought in for questioning on January 30th, only three days after her disappearance, and quickly admitted to knowing Nicole on a surface level, having communicated with her on kick. But he just as quickly proclaimed innocence in her disappearance, stating that he didn't know where she was or what had come of her. And let's talk about David for a moment. At this point, he was a freshman engineering student,

like Heath told us, and he was somewhat of a hometown hero in Columbia, Maryland. Yes, that is where he was from. I thought you were going to say that is where the Bulldogs are going to go another college. I'm just going to throw out another mascot for y'all. So he was an honor student and in his senior year of high school, he was even named the Howard County Boys Indoor Track Athlete of the Year at Wild Lake High School. In his first semester at Virginia Tech,

he was also a member of their long-distance track and field team as well. He was described by those who knew him in high school as ambitious and high-achieving. The one teacher claimed that he struggled socially and that he was easily influenced by his peers. Wow, so it wasn't even his peers who were saying this about him, it was his teacher. Yeah, damn. Like, damn, burn. So David explained in his interview with law enforcement

that it was Nicole's idea for them to start using Kik to communicate. He explained that they met on Omegle, which for those who don't know is a video chatting website where users are paired with randomly generated strangers. So they happened to be put together in a video chat. And that's how they started talking. So, after meeting on Omegle, Nicole apparently asked if they could keep the conversation going on Kik. According to David, Nicole lied to him, telling him that she was 16 or 17 years old, and he claimed that he believed her. She definitely does not look 16, 17 years old, but I will say at

13 she was allowed to be using Omegle. The site says 13 plus, but they do ask that you use parental guidance if you're between 13 and 17 because honestly there's a lot of creeps on Omegle in my opinion. I think a lot of us agree with that. So I would personally consider it a more dangerous site for vulnerable young teens to be using, largely because it involves video. Yeah, and just the fact that you can be a 13 year old girl on Omegle and there can be a 37 or 45 year old man that you get generated to match up with is insane. No, it's actually insane and I hate to keep bringing myself into this and talking about when I was 13

But when I was me and my best friend would go on Omegle and we would be paired with adult men all the time Which is just so strange and so wrong. It shouldn't be a thing. I don't know don't don't really like that app, but uh Anyway, Nicole and David chatted back and forth on the kick app for months, and Nicole was open about how she felt about him the entire time. She regularly told him that he was her crush, and perhaps trying to get ahead of the heartbreak, told him that she knew he didn't think of her that way, but that she would always be there for him if he was having a bad day or just simply wanted to have a good time. Well, as the months passed, it kinda started to seem like David was trying to blow her off,

because he would tell her that they could either take space or continue to talk only as friends. An online gaming friend of David's named Bryce recalls David asking him for advice during this period of time, wondering how he could let Nicole down easily. Bryce later remembered telling him, quote, "...if she wants to be your girlfriend, you know, let her, but don't be the greatest

boyfriend. Just, like, don't text her. Just ignore her." Adding, quote, "...she'll go away." Insane advice. I mean, that's just such asshole advice. I remember boys saying things like, know if you wanted to like you

treat her like dirt she'll stick to you like mud like nasty shit like that hate that and Bryce you're really giving that right now also it's like imagine your 18 year old friend saying hey this 13 year old won't leave me alone and you say yeah just date her bro what but then also turning around and saying, date her, but just ignore her. It's just bad in every way. Anyway. David initially told police that he had met up with Nicole for the first time on the night that she vanished from her bedroom window.

According to David, he realized that she had lied about her age when he showed up at her house and saw that she looked like she was only about 11 by his description, even though they had video-chatted many times and he had seen photos of her as well, where, like Daphne said, she very much looks her age. Then he told police that he had called it off immediately, not wanting to be involved with her, and returned to his dorm room at Virginia Tech, where he stopped by to see a friend. Again, this is the night that she went missing. You know, he's basically just trying to paint himself as the good guy here.

While being questioned about this, though, he kind of jumped between being avoidant and trying to project an air of intimidation against his interrogators, which they absolutely took note of. At one point, seemingly becoming a bit fearful of the strides that were being made in the investigation, David told police, quote, I don't want to go to jail. I didn't do anything wrong. But at another point in the interrogation, he attempted to flip the script on the interviewer, staring him down and then saying matter-of-factly quote You can tell when people are lying based on their ears and their pupils, which is how I know you are stuck

But unfortunately, I cannot help you any further What a smug little bastard so smug, you know thinking that he's smarter than these people who are interrogating him like come on you're not smart buddy also like why would you do you want them to hate you bro like yeah literally you're not doing yourself any favors they're just gonna think you're even more suspicious yeah well when asked what friend he stopped by to see after briefly meeting with Nicole he gave them the name of fellow Virginia Tech freshman 19 year old Natalie Keepers, adding that they could also tap the local Walmart for security footage of them shopping together that evening, though investigators would later learn that

the timeline David gave them would not add up anyway. And I'm so glad, of course course that he gave them Natalie's name but this was his first major mistake. Oh yeah he messed up. Because with a second name added to the investigation, Blacksburg police brought Natalie in for questioning as well. And similar to David, Natalie hailed from Howard County Maryland and was a promising first-year student. She had interned at NASA during her stint at Hammond High School

and hoped to pursue aerospace engineering. When asked about 18-year-old David Eisenhower, she described him as a sweet guy and her best friend. She offered up her phone for them to examine, and a cursory search revealed conversations between them. This is nuts. In which she described smelling like cleaning supplies and blood. And adding that that was to be expected because they had been, quote, close to blood.

Wow. Bombshell. And this is in the phone that she's saying, oh, do you want to look through my phone? Here you go. So in his response texts, because these were to David, David told her, quote, so long as nobody finds the body for a week. Guys, come on.

Literally, come on. Though David staunchly denied involvement, Natalie folded quickly when confronted with these unbelievably dimming text messages. And when it dawned on her that they were pulling incriminating evidence from her phone, Natalie told them, quote, she's dead, blubbering, he forced me to help him move her body. Through Sobs, Natalie shared the horrific full story with police.

She explained that David had become worried that Nicole may be pregnant because something he wasn't honest to police about was that they had indeed been intimate and that they were not just friends. So basically, David had confided in Natalie that he and Nicole attended a party and that David had supposedly blacked out and woken up in a ditch Unsure if he and Nicole had hooked up or not Though David denied having met Nicole in person prior to the night. She disappeared now being caught in multiple lies Investigators began to believe that they had been intimate on at least one occasion

Though Nicole's pregnancy was later disproved by the medical examiner, David seemed to know that he would be in severe legal trouble if he had been caught having a sexual and romantic relationship with a minor, who was well below the age of consent in Virginia, which, like most states, is 18 years old. By Natalie's recollection, she and David had met up the day before Nicole disappeared on January 26th, 2016. That day, the same day that Nicole had excitedly told the neighbor girls about her upcoming

date with her new boyfriend, David and Natalie had plotted out her abduction and murder over dinner at a fast food restaurant. They then headed to Walmart, which David later tried to use as an alibi, though the security footage was time stamped and he was proven to arrive at her house after midnight on January 27th. David later claimed that he and Natalie had purchased a shovel and though he said it was for snow purposes, it had been a gardening shovel. He then dropped Natalie back off at her dorm to continue the a shovel and though he said it was for snow purposes, it had been a gardening shovel. He then dropped Natalie back off at her dorm to continue the night alone.

Meaning that Natalie never came in contact with Nicole while she was still alive. But when investigators pressed David for details about the shovel and the shopping trip, he requested an attorney. But even though David is going silent here, Natalie kept talking. Nicole apparently thought that David was her first love, so she continued to pursue him after he tried to end things, telling him that she didn't want to lose him. He had threatened her before, telling her that she couldn't tell anybody about them and that if she did, quote, they, he just said they, would likely find a way to threaten them both. Like he apparently once told her, quote,

they will find a way to hurt you. And she told him that he was scaring her. So this is obviously just some ploy because he knows that he was intimate with a 13 year old He doesn't want to get in trouble, so he's now trying to end things but trying to say like trying to basically Divert blame from himself and say that oh well They will come after both of us if you tell anybody it's like no they will come after you yeah, you're the one that's doing something wrong here, buddy.

And, uh, he doesn't want to have to pay for it. But following the advice of his friend Bryce, David just blew her off. And in one of their later conversations, he told her that he didn't have time for her. In response, Nicole allegedly wrote, Police in all caps, signifying to David that she may report him and, you know, making him fear retribution. So with that, David felt like apparently the only thing that made sense to do was to kill Nicole.

And he enlisted Natalie's help to hatch a plan. I mean this is so crazy to me. Because you know, he's 18 18 years old yes he did something wrong But he chose this extreme measure To bury this evidence of something that he may have gotten a slap on the wrist for you know It goes this way a lot on our show you know would you rather go to prison for a murder or for a statutory rape? Yeah, exactly if even that exactly cuz I I honestly don't necessarily believe that Nicole would have reported him. She is interested in him. She doesn't want to get him in trouble.

Well, and also you just think about the difference in sentences. Like, if you get in trouble for this, he probably would have gotten in trouble, but wouldn't have been sentenced to, you know, maybe life in prison without the possibility of parole. Oh yeah. But also just like, then don't hook up with a 13-year-old. Well, yeah, I mean obviously he's a dumbass for that. Yeah, I mean he's a big dumbass in general. So he and Natalie threw many ideas back and forth about how to carry through with her murder. And on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, Natalie and David ate dinner at a fast food restaurant

discussing their plans ahead of Nicole's impending murder, and then headed to Walmart to pick up the shovel. David dropped Natalie back at her dorm and then headed to Nicole's house to pick her up. As we know, her last message on Kik was at 12.39 a.m. on the morning of January 27th, before she climbed out of her window and into his awaiting vehicle. Natalie claimed that David lured Nicole away from her home under the guise of taking a romantic midnight walk with him as a date. But instead, he drove her away from her home, coming to a stop at a secluded location

less than 10 miles, or 16 kilometers, from Virginia Tech's campus. And when they started walking, he took her by surprise, attacking her with a knife, and stabbing her 14 times, which included a fatal blow to her neck. David left her body there in that secluded spot along the side of Craig Creek Road and some brush. When Natalie asked him for a status update, he told her ominously, it's done.

But as the word spread about Nicole's disappearance, David grew paranoid that her remains would be discovered too easily, and told Natalie to help him move it. He reportedly texted Natalie that if she wasn't found within a week, she would never be traced. They then went back to where her body had been discarded, loaded it into the back of David's Lexus, and then they stopped in a Walmart in Wytheville, Virginia, which is over an hour away, with Nicole's body still in the back of the car, and purchased more cleaning supplies. They then stripped her of her clothes and doused her in bleach, believing that this would possibly wash away any evidence that David and Natalie had ever touched her before

leaving her body on the side of a road in North Carolina. They then dumped Nicole's belongings in a river in West Virginia and drove to a McDonald's in Dublin, Virginia, buying drinks and dropping their bloody wipes and gloves in the trash before heading back to their campus, disposing of evidence across multiple states. With all of this horrific information, 18-year-old David was officially arrested on January 30, 2016 for the abduction and murder of Nicole Lovell, just days after it occurred. Early the following morning, Natalie was arrested and charged with improper disposal of a body and being an accessory after the fact. She said through tears that if she had been there, she would have stopped him from going

through with it, despite the fact that she had every chance to do so as she was helping him plot the murder and subsequent disposal of Nicole's body. Uh, yeah. Yeah, like, what are you even talking about? She had even stolen Nicole's beloved minion's blanket, and a search of Natalie's dorm room after she was questioned revealed Nicole's blood-stained blanket, as well as a stick with blood on it. When asked why she would continue to help David in his completely unthinkable actions instead of trying to stop him, she told authorities that it made her feel like she was a part of something.

A part of something secret and special. Meanwhile, on the same day as David's arrest, even without his help, Nicole's body was discovered completely unconcealed on the side of the road. She had been left on Route 89 near an exit in Surrey County, North Carolina, which happened to be near the home of David's grandparents. As investigators built their case, they questioned David's roommate who said on that night, the night of Nicole's murder, David had returned late, around 2 a.m. He also explained that David usually kept a knife displayed on his desk, but that he stopped seeing it after Nicole's murder.

And it seems like this is likely what he used to kill her because police have never been able to locate the murder weapon. Also, Natalie remembered David pulling the knife out of his center console, wiping the blood off of it, and then discarding it in the woods. So that explains its absence. And at another point while driving, he tossed Nicole's phone out the window where it fell into the median, but despite the loss of two major pieces of evidence, investigators made every attempt to look for more against David.

Virginia State Police searched a pond on the Virginia Tech campus, wondering if maybe he had dropped the knife there to dispose of it. When they searched David's car, they came upon blood stains confirmed to be from Nicole, as well as a bloody shovel. The one he said was for snow. From a forensic search on his phone, they recovered one of many incriminating texts from David, in which he asked his friend Bryce about the best place to hide a body. Like, completely out in the open. They're sending all these insane texts.

Idiot. On February 2nd, 2016, Nicole's mother Tammy delivered an emotional statement at a press conference about her daughter's tragic and untimely death. Tammy said, quote, Nicole touched many people throughout her short life. But Tammy was sobbing so hard that she had to step off camera where she was embraced by a police officer. So Nicole's youth pastor stepped in to finish for her saying, quote, our hearts still ache with sadness and secret tears still flow. What it meant to lose you, no one will ever know.

The following day, hundreds gathered for Nicole's memorial service and Nicole's dad, who remembers also named David, and her stepmother, Terry, recalled having concerns about Nicole's relationship to social media and her online activities, especially in terms of online dating. Her father, David, stepmom, Terry, and mother, Tammy, even addressed it with Nicole and her school. But her father, David, later said morosely, quote,

"'I guess we didn't do enough. Now, as soon as the legal proceedings were underway, Natalie and David turned on each other. When a bloody handprint of Natalie's was found on the shovel, David's public defender pointed the finger at her. He initially pleaded not guilty to her murder, but Natalie eventually pleaded guilty, though that didn't stop her legal team from placing the blame back on David. Natalie described him as a sociopath, and her as a quote sociopath in training. Preliminary hearings were scheduled for May of 2016, but after many delays, David's trial finally

began on February 5th of 2018. However, the tides turned quickly, and realizing the indisputable mountain of evidence stacked against him, David Eisenhower pleaded no contest to the crime. In a statement to Nicole's family, he said quote, I am sorry for the pain my actions have caused Nicole and her family It is my deepest regret and I'm aware that my actions have serious consequences Nothing can ever undo what was done and for that I'm deeply sincerely and forever. Sorry on June 26 2018 21 year old David Eisenhower was sentenced to 75 years in prison, though 25 of them were suspended, likely meaning that he'll serve 50 or

less. He was also sentenced to 20 years probation after his parole. Natalie's team, on the other hand, put in a last-ditch effort to portray her as mentally unfit to discern whether her actions were right or wrong. So a neuropsychologist was called in to examine her, and he diagnosed her with seven mental disorders, including borderline personality disorder and a disorder similar to schizophrenia. He described her as easily influenced and extremely gullible, explaining that she was caught up in the fantasy of the crime and likely didn't even realize that the murder

was actually happening in a reality other than her own. Addressing Tammy's family, Natalie said through tears, quote, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have stopped it. On September 20th, 2018, a judge handed Natalie a sentence of 45 years, with five years suspended, with neither of them being eligible for parole. After their sentencing, Tammy said sadly, quote, it's not fair. She claimed that she was unable to accept Natalie's apology or anybody else's, saying that she felt Natalie's sentiment was insincere.

When asked if she would be able to forgive Natalie, Tammy said, quote, not at this time. The Kick App was also criticized for the role it played in Nicole's murder, but a spokesman for the app maintained that the responsibility lies with the parents to control what their children have access to. In 2020, Natalie and her legal team made a bid for an appeal, but her sentence was affirmed and an appeals process was denied, though her legal team does plan to take her appeal

request to the Supreme Court. Tammy announced on behalf of her family that they were relieved that Natalie's petition for an appeal was not granted. And for now, David remains incarcerated with a release date of 2059 and Natalie's is set for 2051. Nicole's family established a scholarship fund in her name and Tammy has continued her volunteer efforts with the nonprofit organization called Help Save the Next Girl Which focuses their efforts on helping girls spot predators online and in real life

Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Again, what a tragic story and just the fact that Natalie found herself caught up in all of this stuff and, you know, she didn't have to include herself in this crime at all, but chose to do so, got caught up in this fantasy, and likely, you know, under the guidance of David. It really is such a cautionary tale about how dangerous the internet can be, and just how devastating it really is because, like we said so many times throughout this episode, Nicole was just a 13-year-old girl who wanted to feel accepted by somebody and David took advantage of that so Luckily this case was solved so fast

I'm so glad that they were able to at least find her body and find as much evidence as they did to put him And Natalie away. It's just such a devastating story Thank you so much again to Laura and Tammy for putting it on our radar. And thank you all so much for tuning in. And just make sure that you go over to our socials. Give us a follow, go check out photos from this case and all the other cases that we've covered. Thus far, we're on Instagram at going west podcast. We're also on Facebook, we have a regular page

and then we have a discussion group. We say this all the time. A lot of guys are already over there starting discussions and conversations. So please go join. Yes, head on over there and we'll see you again on Tuesday. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. I'm still going