The NIU community waited with bated breath since Saturday for updated information on the status of the death investigation of NIU student Antinette Keller.

By today, though, everyone is breathless from trading rumors, allegations and unanswered questions because of a lack of information from authorities.

It’s inexcusable that no information has been released from the DeKalb County Major Case Squad since a press briefing Saturday night. DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen dropped a bombshell on the media and the community that night, telling the press that the investigation into Keller’s disappearance was reclassified as a death investigation.

Since then, no significant information has been released, not even the identification of the “human remains” found in Prairie Park.

The community has rightfully responded to the lack of information by loudly voicing frustrations and fears.

For a case of this magnitude, authorities will typically release information daily about investigation progress (even if the release confirms that no new information has been recovered). It’s 48 hours and counting since the community learned of the reclassification.

The community has reached a level of hysteria that only comes when questions are not being answered, and no one can be blamed for being unnerved.

With authorities mum for so long, the allegations get wilder and the questions of “How safe is DeKalb?” seem more and more legitimate.

The lack of information on such a public case raises questions of competence, basic organization of the investigation and where major breakthroughs in the case really fall on the timeline of events.

No one is looking for information that isn’t there, but everyone would like to hear updates from the authorities themselves rather than speculation from floormates and Facebook.

Feithen and State’s Attorney John Farrell will be addressing the media today at a press conference, and the information-starved community needs an update that includes much more substantial information than just more unanswered questions.

The situation has become much more than a missing student in a wooded area: it revolves around the safety of an entire campus community and whether DeKalb is a safe place to be.

No information equals more questions, and if the authorities are worried about releasing information that may panic the population, it’s too late.