The family of slain NIU student Antinette “Toni” Keller will receive some of her remains almost six months after her disappearance.

The state’s attorney and defense attorney for William Curl, 34, the man charged with Keller’s murder, have come to an agreement about certain items that can be released to her family.

The agreement was announced at a status update for Curl on Friday at DeKalb County Courthouse, 133 W. State St. in Sycamore. The Keller family was notified before the announcement in court.

The two parties agreed that some remains will stay at the DeKalb County Coroner’s Office for evidence in the event of a trial, said Clay Campbell, DeKalb County state’s attorney.

Campbell said the family will receive the remains in the next seven to 10 days.

“It goes without saying that they are looking forward to the day they can take their daughter home,” Campbell said.

Campbell said when he told Keller’s father he would receive some of her remains, he was very appreciative.

“As a father talking to a father, you could hear in the tone in Mr. Keller’s voice that he’s been waiting for this for a long time,” Campbell said.

No family members of Keller’s were present at court Friday.

Campbell said he does not know what the family has planned for Keller’s remains.

“They’re going to try to do something very special for their daughter,” he said.

DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen said the family has not held a funeral service for Keller yet.

Campbell said it is too early to predict whether the remains that need to be kept for evidence could be returned to the family at a later time.

Campbell originally filed a motion to release all of the remains to Keller’s family March 23.

Campbell said he was confident the remains contained no evidence that might be necessary for a trial and could be given to her family without compromising Curl’s right to a fair trial.

Curl’s public defender Regina Harris requested more time to have an expert review the remains to make sure they contained no evidence.

The agreement announced Friday was reached in consultation with forensic experts hired by both parties, Campbell said.

After court Friday, Harris said she had spoken with Dennis Dirkmaat, a Pennsylvania forensic anthropologist specializing in burned remains, about the items in question.

Harris said she was not able to email photographs to Dirkmaat as she had planned to do because of the size of the files, but was able to give him enough information through conversation.

“I am confident in his ability to give me his opinion based on our conversations,” Harris said.

Harris said some items were kept for a possible trial because they might contain information about Keller’s cause of death, identify Keller, identify post-mortem activity done to the body and how and why that activity occurred.

These are all issues that could be questions in a trial, she said.

A further status update was set for 8:45 a.m on May 3.

Harris said she hopes to move a step closer to having all of the evidence materials in her possession at that time.

Harris said it is difficult to determine whether she and the state have all of the same investigation materials like reports and photographs. She said it is hard to tell if certain materials exist and which agencies would have those materials because several agencies handled the case.

NIU Police were in charge of the investigation after receiving the call about Keller’s disappearance on Oct. 15.

The DeKalb County Major Case Squad took over the investigation Oct. 21 because the scope of the investigation extended beyond NIU’s campus.

Harris said she is also still waiting to receive the report about the search and examination of the site in Prairie Park where Keller’s remains were found Oct. 16.

Harris confirmed that all of the remains found in Prairie Park were found in one location in the park, near a fire campsite.

Curl appeared in court before Judge Robbin Stuckert via closed-circuit TV from DeKalb County Jail.

He is charged with five counts of murder, one count of concealment of a homicide, one count of arson and one count of criminal sexual assault. He is also charged with obstruction of justice and possession of a converted motor vehicle.

Curl is being held on about a $5 million bond.