Police say they also recovered items consistent with property belonging to NIU student Antinette "Toni" Keller.
Chief of Police Bill Feithen said Saturday the remains have not been positively identified. But police say the search has been reclassified as a death investigation and that Keller's family was told of the change.
Keller, a freshman from Plainfield, was last seen in the early afternoon on Thursday, Oct. 14. She reportedly told friends that she was going for a walk in a nature area behind the Junction Center retail complex.