Do we know anything about her past, her relationships, her friends, any unusual behavior. Have any of her friends spoken out? We know she is respected in her field, but what about in her activities outside of her studies? Is she well liked, is she a loner. Might she be super competitive in her studies? (my daughter was doing her PhD (neuroscience), but after 3 years abandoned that...it was a cutthroat environment, she couldn't stand the competition, the need to excel, produce papers, she even experienced sabotage amongst her cohorts. Quit and went into medicine)
Does NV have close friends, was she involved in any extracurricular activities, does she come across as emphatic and genuinely caring? Or is she a schadenfreude type ? I've known people like that, they are frightening.