The senseless murder of a 13-year-old girl and cancer survivor has rocked the state of Virginia after authorities have arrested a highly-touted Virginia Tech track star and engineering student for the brutal knife death, which according to reports, took place last week after the teenager climbed out of her bedroom window in Blacksburg early Wednesday, January 27.

Another Va. Tech engineering major — a young woman — is being charged in accordance with the homicide.

This from the Associated Press:

Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary Pettitt described how authorities believe David Eisenhauer and Natalie Keepers plotted the stabbing death of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell.

Pettit did not suggest a possible motive, or describe the killing itself, but she said both college freshmen planned for Eisenhauer to cut the girl’s throat at a remote location.

Keepers is adamant that she was not present at the killing, but she “is in the same position as the person who carried out the murder,” the prosecutor told Judge Robert Viar Jr.

Messages on the missing girl’s phone led police to Eisenhauer, who initially denied his involvement, Pettitt said.

Eisenhauer later said he drove to the girl’s home and watching her climb out of her window the day she vanished. He said he greeted her with a side hug and then brought her to Keepers, Pettitt said.

Both Eisenhauer, 18, and Keepers, 19, are being held by authorities. Keepers was denied bail while Eisenhauer was detained without bond after being charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Keepers has been charged with aiding the murder suspect and assisting in the hiding of the body.

Lovell’s body was recovered in North Carolina. She’s being remembered in her hometown Thursday at a private funeral.

Since news of the Va. Tech students gruesome alleged involvement in the tragedy broke, friends and fellow students have come out on social media to voice their reactions and sentiments. Perhaps more than any other public take on the awful situation, Gaige Kern’s words — addressed to the suspected killer himself — struck a nerve and and the minds of stunned Americans in Virginia and elsewhere.

Kern is not only a friend of Eisenhauer, but ran with him on the Hokies’ collegiate squad.

“The David I knew had his faults, but this is beyond the scope of imagination,” said the note. “Did something happen to you that would cause a complete change, or was this newly surfaced personality always there, lurking in the shadows, hiding amidst lies? And if it was, how did you hide it so well?”

Strangely enough, the missive also mentioned Eisenhauer’s future plans/dreams, which involved the United States military, specifically the DoD.

This also from the AP:

The post also mentioned that Eisenhauer had a goal of working for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which develops technology for the military. Kern told The Associated Press he wasn’t ready to discuss the post or his friendship with Eisenhauer.

Even more bizarre, Keepers had similar plans:

In 2014, she interned at a NASA facility in Maryland, and planned to double-major in aerospace and ocean engineering and naval engineering.

“My field of study is due to my fascination in the foundations of aircrafts, boats, and submarines. After college, I plan to hopefully get a job with the government or an aerospace or ocean company,” she wrote in her LinkedIn profile.