Nicole White

Nicole White was a happy young woman.

"She was always smiling," said Rebecca Mercer, White's principal at Smithfield High School and Smithfield Middle School.

White, 20, of Carrollton in Isle of Wight County, graduated from Smithfield High in 2004.

"She was ... very friendly and open," Mercer said.

At Smithfield High, White was an active member of the Beta Club, an academic and community service group.

At Tech, White, a junior, was majoring in international studies.

Her family had no comment yesterday, according to family spokesman Jeff Walton, an associate pastor at Nansemond River Baptist Church in northern Suffolk.

A news conference is scheduled this morning at the church.

-- Rex Springston