Toni Keller

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Antinette 'Toni' Keller Missing: Police Search For Missing Northern Illinois Student

Antinette Keller, or Toni as she goes by, disappeared last Thursday while taking a walk near the NIU campus. Her unusual disappearance has left students and school officials coping with absence of one of their own.

“It makes me feel pretty upset actually, the fact that people can’t even go outside their dorms and walk around town without something happing to them, it’s pretty awful,” said freshman Ryan Chodora.

Keller hasn’t been heard from since she left her Neptune North dormitory and headed for a walk near West Lincoln Highway.

On Tuesday, NIU officials held a press event for students to provide them with ideas on how they can help in the search, but advised them not to go out on their own.

Officials want students “to pass out fliers, to call their friends and their family members and say, 'hey, we're okay, but can you help us get the word out to let people know that Toni is not where she should be right now.' and we just want Toni to come home safe," said Public Information Officer Alan Smith.

Police say Keller was headed towards a wooded area just off campus when she disappeared. Toni was last seen wearing blue jeans, a grey jacket, and a scarf. Officials believe she was also carrying her art portfolio and a professional camera.

Officials are asking anyone with information to contact the NIU Department of Public Safety by phone at 815-753-1212.

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DEKALB (WBBM) — The DeKalb County Sheriff says a dive team has been called in to search the Kishwaukee River for signs of a missing student.

Sheriff Roger Scott says the divers from the St. Charles Fire Department are being used only “as a tool.” He says there is no indication that 18-year-old Toni Keller of Plainfield might have drowned.

The chief of the DeKalb Fire Department, Bruce Harrison, says the dive team is conducting an underwater search of the south branch of the Kishwaukee River.

Harrison says the water is “very murky and very muddy” and low. He says a surface search was conducted earlier in the week.

St. Charles Police Department Spokesman Paul McCurtain says four members of the fire department dive team were dispatched to DeKalb at 11:50 a.m. Thursday.

It has been a week since Keller disappeared after telling friends at Northern Illinois University she was going for a walk.

Last night, Sheriff Scott says a tip from a motorist led authorities to one area of the county.

“Last night we were particularly involved because there was a report that she might have been sighted out at Route 38, south of Route 38, on Nelson Road, which is out in the county by about 3 or 4 miles. So we had an extensive search last night,” Scott said

He says nothing was found.

“We believe, after talking to the witness, that actually he did see someone on the tracks, though later on he looked at a picture [of Keller] and said it was probably not the same person.”

Authorities say a search volunteer found a shovel south of campus. But it’s not clear whether it has anything to do with the Keller investigation.

NIU says Keller’s dorm key was found off campus – but her father is quoted as saying she lost the key some time ago.

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Major case squad takes over search for Keller

DeKALB – The search for missing Northern Illinois University student Antinette “Toni” Keller was turned over Thursday to the DeKalb County Major Case Squad.

Officials with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police and the NIU, DeKalb and Sycamore police departments made the decision together to activate the major case squad, according to a news release from NIU.

The squad is made up of investigators from each of those agencies, who coordinate efforts to resolve major crimes.

NIU police was the initial lead
agency on the investigation, but the scope of the search now has extended
beyond campus, according to the news release.

“The best and most efficient way to accomplish this objective in this case is by combining the resources of all the agencies with jurisdictional interests through the utilization of the DeKalb County Major Case Squad,” NIU police Chief Donald Grady said in the news release.

DeKalb police Chief Bill Feithen said he does not expect the direction or tone of the investigation to change with the major case squad in charge.

“We’re exploring all avenues. Our focus is Toni, and we don’t want to leave anything unturned,” Feithen said. “It’s a natural progression for a major case to bring in additional resources, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Feithen said all of the agencies involved continue to work closely with the university.

The major case squad brought in dive teams Thursday to search the Kishwaukee River where it runs through Prairie Park in south DeKalb, but divers did not find Keller. DeKalb police Lt. Gary Spangler said police did not have a specific reason to believe Keller might be in the water, but the dive team was brought in as a tool to assist in the comprehensive search.

“We are utilizing a dive team to clear the area,” Spangler said. “It’s just an additional tool we are using to conduct a thorough search.”

The team, from the St. Charles Fire Department, arrived about 2 p.m. and unloaded boats in the parking lot of the DeKalb Elk’s Lodge, which is in the 200 block of South Annie Glidden Road. The entrance to the park near the Elk’s Lodge was roped off with yellow caution tape, and bystanders were not allowed near the search.

“The search at the river (Thursday) was just part of the progressive, continued search to make sure no detail or area is left undone,” DeKalb fire Chief Bruce Harrison said. “It may not be so much as looking for Toni as looking for any evidence that may help us discover exactly what is going on here.”

Keller, 18, was last seen about noon Oct. 14 at her residence hall on Lucinda Avenue. Friends told police the freshman art student had planned to take a walk in an area adjacent to West Lincoln Highway behind the Junction Center retail complex. She never returned, and a friend reported her missing about 6:10 p.m. Oct. 15.

NIU spokesman Brad Hoey said that the university followed protocol established by the Clery Act, a federal law that requires higher education institutions that get federal financial aid to disclose information about crime on and near campuses, as they began the search a week ago once Keller was reported missing.

The Clery Act requires a university, within 24 hours of being notified of a missing person, to issue an alert about the situation, Hoey said. After receiving the report Friday night, NIU police immediately began interviewing Keller’s family and friends and searching places she might have gone. They also issued a nationwide all-points bulletin.

Police then launched a three-day search of her residence hall, campus, areas she frequents and a wooded area near Prairie Park where she told friends she was headed. An alert was placed on the NIU website at 2:48 p.m. Saturday.

Information about Keller now has spread beyond the DeKalb region to national media reports and through social media networks, Hoey said.

Investigators are following up on tips as they are called in to determine if they are valid, Hoey said. He noted that a Wednesday evening report of a woman who might have matched Keller’s description possibly wandering dazed near Route 38 and Nelson Road resulted in immediate mobilization. Searches by city, county and NIU officers found nothing.

“It’s day by day, hour by hour here,” Hoey said.

NIU President John Peters said Keller’s disappearance was frustrating because no one knows what happened.

“You want to think the best, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Peters said. “For me, that won’t go away until this is resolved.”

NIU officials started a special Thursday morning meeting of the board of trustees by asking the community to keep Keller in their thoughts.

“I would like each of us to remember one of our students, Antinette Keller, who has been missing for a week,” NIU BOT Chairman Marc Strauss said. “Please keep Toni and her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”

Peters thanked students, faculty, staff and the greater DeKalb community, as well as all the law enforcement agencies involved in the search, for their “outpouring of support as one of our own remains missing.”

“It’s been a trying week for everyone here at NIU,” Peters said. “We are working 24/7 on this issue. My heart goes out to the Keller family for this unimaginable time for them. Toni Keller is never far from our thoughts.”

Peters also lauded the staff at Student Affairs and University Relations for providing support to Keller’s family and students, as well as for getting information out to the community.

“I am humbled and proud to serve as your president and we are truly a remarkable and resilient community because of our people,” Peters said. “Once again, we move on forward, together forward.”

• Shaw Suburban Media reporter Nicole Weskerna contributed to this report.

Have You Seen Toni?

Antinette J. Keller, known as Toni to her family and friends, was last seen at the Neptune North residence hall about noon Oct. 14. She is a white female, 18 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 130 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a gray or green sweater.

Keller has a sunflower tattoo on her upper right chest and a pierced nose, probably with a stud.

She may still be in the area or may have traveled to California.

Anyone with information is asked to call 815-753-TIPS or 815-748-8407.


How to Help

National missing persons organization LostNMissing is hosting a poster event Sunday morning at Northern Illinois University. Volunteers will meet from 9-9:30 a.m. at the Capitol Room in the Holmes Student Center. A spokesperson for the Keller family will give a brief recap of the investigation to date and a LostNMissing representative will instruct volunteers on the most visible placement for posters in the community. Volunteers will then distribute missing person posters featuring Keller's photo throughout the area. For information, e-mail [e-mail].

For additional information from NIU, visit www.niu.edu/emergencyinfo/ and click on the yellow box on the left side of the page that reads "Current Advisories"