DeKalb police are now treating the Antinette “Toni” Keller case as a homicide. Police found badly burned human remains in a park near the Northern Illinois University campus where the student is believed to have gone missing. Despite the re-classification of the case, DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen said investigators haven’t made a positive identification on the remains.
“Due to the state of the burned remains. An autopsy is not viable. Whether these remains are Toni’s or not, could take some time,” he said.
Feithen said police are calling in a forensics expert to help identify the body. The Illinois State Police and the FBI are assisting in the investigation. No arrests have been made in relation to the case, yet.
Keller, 18, told friends she was going for a walk on October 14th, but she never returned. Many students and faculty have been making ribbons to honor Keller.
Eric Anderson is junior at NIU. He said, “I think she would greatly appreciate that and she will always be in spirits on campus here and I hope she knows that everybody on campus is thinking about her 24/7 because I know I am.”
Police previously classified their search for Keller as a death investigation.