Crime & Safety

Remembering Toni, Two Years After

Plainfield, NIU communities come together to remember the slain teen, reflect on the lasting impact of her death.

For most people, Oct. 14 is just another date on the calendar.

But for those gathered Wednesday night at the DeKalb Elks Lodge, the day has a different meaning, and it’s one that changed their lives forever.

Led by Northern Illinois University custodian Thelma Holderness, the group gathered to remember the day Toni Keller's life ended, cruelly and far too soon.

Find out what's happening in Plainfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Keller, an 18-year-old freshman at NIU, disappeared on Oct. 14, 2010, after going to take photos for an art assignment at a DeKalb park.

Her remains were found two days later. William Curl, the man who stands accused of sexually assaulting and murdering the Plainfield teenager, is scheduled to go on trial in December.

Find out what's happening in Plainfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sign up for the Plainfield Patch newsletter.

“In the past months, we’ve been asked, ‘Will there be a two-year [memorial] for Toni?,’ and we as a community said no,” said Holderness, founder of the Summoning of Yellow Facebook group. Members of the group are dedicated to showing support for Toni’s parents, Roger and Diane Keller.

Though the Kellers were not up to attending the Oct. 10 “Two Years After” event, Holderness said,“Diane did discuss with me recently her wish that Toni is not forgotten — her wish that those acts committed against her on Oct. 14, 2010, are not forgotten.”

On Wednesday, members of the DeKalb, NIU and Plainfield communities gathered to remember Toni — and the impact her death has had on their lives.

Many of those who attended the Oct. 10 event said they never knew Toni, but were affected by her death and their sorrow for the Keller family.

Ben Thomas, who also works at NIU, was overcome with emotion as he spoke about not only Toni’s death, but another tragedy that rocked the university.

In the past, Thomas said, one of his duties was to help oversee freshman orientation at the DeKalb campus.

“I would always try my best to set the parents of incoming freshmen at ease,” Thomas said. “I also told them that we would always make sure their kids were safe … and then 2/14 happened.”

Thomas was referring to Feb. 14, 2008 — the day a gunman opened fire at Cole Hall, killing five people before turning the gun on himself.

“The next summer I had to work orientation was really painful,” he said. “I would break down every day and have to leave because I couldn’t face those parents.”

Toni’s death, he said, was another blow to the NIU community.

“The devastating news [of Toni’s disappearance] was announced and I lost it again,” Thomas said. “ … And every day it got worse and worse until the unthinkable.

“… I couldn’t keep the 2/14 kids safe and then we lost Toni,” he said. “I felt like a failure and a liar. So if I could say anything to the family, I feel we failed this.”

Thomas said he had never spoken to Toni, but recalled seeing her on campus.

“Every time I passed by her, she was that girl that smiled at you,” he recalled. Thomas said he immediately recognized her when her photo was posted on the NIU website.

“I remembered her beautiful face,” he said.

Donna DiTusa traveled from Plainfield to attend the Oct. 10 event in DeKalb.

DiTusa said she never met Toni or her parents, but was deeply affected by the family’s tragic loss.

“That same year, I sent my daughter to Western university in Macomb,” DiTusa said. When she dropped her daughter off for her first semester away at college, DiTusa recalled hugging her tight and pleading with her to be careful.

Weeks later, she said, she heard the horrific news about the missing teenager from Plainfield.

“I immediately called my daughter,” DiTusa said. “I knew she was in class, but I just had to let her know,” the Plainfield mom said.

DiTusa said she was overwhelmed with sorrow for the Keller family’s loss.

“I don’t know them, but I have been following everything that happened,” she said. “As a mother and as a parent, I am here to support the family.”

Like Toni, NIU graduate Kelly Haas was an art major at the university. Nine months before Toni’s death, Haas said, she lost her mother.

The new loss hit her hard, she said.

“I don’t know what it’s like to lose a child, and I hope I never do,” she said. “… I know what it’s like to lose someone you love and to have someone you love taken from you and you feel like there’s nothing you can do about it.

“I want [the Kellers] to know that DeKalb, NIU, art majors — we never forget a fallen Huskie,” Haas said through tears. “Every day I think of Toni, and every day I think of my mom. I think of all the things I’m doing now … Toni should have this too.

“We miss her every day and we take her along with us.”

Graduate Laura Devine was also a senior at NIU when Toni disappeared.

"I was wrapped up in boys, I was wrapped up in my grades," Devine said. "I didn't step up at the time. I remember posting one post on [Facebook], saying, 'Be careful, fellow Huskies.'"

Devine said she felt compelled to become part of Summoning of Yellow, which encourages members to attend Curl's court hearings dressed in yellow — Toni's favorite color — as a silent show of support for the Keller family.

"When I go to court and I see Roger and I'm wearing yellow and I squeeze him really tight, I just feel like I'm giving light or giving hope or giving something I wasn't before," Devine said. "It's about loving ... We have to learn to love through tragedy." 

For Holderness, that October day in 2010 forever changed her life.

Though the outpouring of love and support for the Keller family is a reminder of the goodness in people, Toni’s death is a reminder that evil exists too, Holderness said.

“There’s no guarantee,” she said. “There’s no safe place. We have to be aware and even when we are aware, sometimes it’s not enough …

“Horror happened here, and people who grew up here or lived here for a long time understand that,” Holderness said. “That’s how it’s going to be for me for the rest of my life.”

Read more:

  • Keller’s Memory in Bloom at NIU
  • Fund Established to Purchase Bench in Honor of 'Sunflower Girl' Toni Keller
  • Toni Keller Murder Trial Delayed Until December
  • Public Defender Resigns in Keller Murder Trial
  • ‘Summoning of the Yellow’ to Support Keller Family

--------------------------

Follow Plainfield Patch on Facebook


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.