Police: Remains Found in Search for Ill. Student Were Burnt

Oct. 26, 2010— -- The human remains found in the search for missing student Antinette "Toni" Keller were so badly burned that an autopsy will not be possible and more testing will be needed to identify them, police said today.

The remains were found late Saturday in a DeKalb, Ill., park where investigators were searching for the missing 18-year-old Northern Illinois University art student.

"The investigation is proceeding as a homicide investigation," DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen said today at a news conference. "Due to the state of the burnt remains, an autopsy is not viable."

"Forensic experts have identified the remains as human," he said. "Whether these remains are Toni's or not could take some time."

The remains were found near items that appeared to be things that witnesses said Keller had with her, or was wearing, when she was last seen, Feithen said.

More than 40 police officers from the DeKalb County major case squad are working on the investigation with support from from six other law enforcement agencies, including the Illinois State Police and the FBI, he said.

"We have continued to interview persons, whom we believe may have information relative to this case," he said. "To date we have spoken to approximately 50 people, some more than once."

Keller, an 18-year-old freshman, went missing on Oct. 14 after setting off alone into Prairie Park at around noon. The young woman was last seen at her residence hall, when she told fellow students she was going to the popular park to get ideas for an art project.

"She just told the people she was going into the forest, which she did all the time, to do her artwork because that's a nice way to relax and have your art feel going, and she always came back before dark," Jamie Feather, one of Keller's friends, told ABC Chicago station WLS-TV. "She was supposed to meet someone the next day and never showed up."

According to Keller's cousin and family spokeswoman, Mary Tarling, Keller had made arrangements to see family and friends last weekend, and the family realized she was missing when she did not turn up at home Oct. 15.