MEXICO CITY (AP) -- At least one of 43 college students missing since September has been identified among charred remains found near a garbage dump, two Mexican officials confirmed Saturday.
The two could not provide more details on how many of the students might have been identified.
They agreed to speak only if granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
A family member of a missing student told The Associated Press that the remains were of Alexander Mora. The families were given that information late Friday by an Argentine team of forensic experts working on behalf of the relatives and with the Attorney General's Office, said the relative, who also would speak only on condition of anonymity.
The two could not provide more details on how many of the students might have been identified.
They agreed to speak only if granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
A family member of a missing student told The Associated Press that the remains were of Alexander Mora. The families were given that information late Friday by an Argentine team of forensic experts working on behalf of the relatives and with the Attorney General's Office, said the relative, who also would speak only on condition of anonymity.
Parents of the students declined comment, planning to address a crowd that gathered Saturday afternoon at an already planned protest at the capital's Monument to the Revolution to demand the return of the students alive.
Parents participating in Saturday's protest got off buses with sullen faces and were immediately surrounded by people for protection and support.
Omar Garcia, a student at the march who attended the same rural teachers college in Ayotzinapa as the missing young men, relayed the reaction of Mora's father when he learned the fate of his son: "He will never give up. He will never get over his pain, but what he wants to tell all of you, and what we all want to say is this: We want justice!"
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| killing and burning pit next to city dump |
The father of Alexander Mora reported that his son's body was burned and that the Argentine experts identified it by a fragment of bone and a molar which was located in the pit near Cocula where the PGR determined that on this site were killed, burned and crushed the 43 students from Ayotzinapa.
"The rest of the boys officially there is nothing and I hope that this fact do raise awareness of unconscious people", said the heartbroken father during a meeting with relatives and friends in the Pericón.
"The rest of the boys officially there is nothing and I hope that this fact do raise awareness of unconscious people", said the heartbroken father during a meeting with relatives and friends in the Pericón.
The students went missing Sept. 26 after confrontations with police in the Guerrero state city of Iguala that killed three students and three bystanders. Attorney General Murillo Karam has said the boys were kidnapped on orders of the Mayor of Iquala and turned over to a drug gang he had ties to and they were killed and their bodies burned by the gang. Members of the gang had given statements that the ashes were collected in plastic trash bags and thrown in a nearby river.
A world famous Argentine forensics team was brought in to examine the remains. The Argentine team recommended that the fragments be sent to University of Innsbruck in Austria because they had one of the most experienced laboratories for identifying deteriorated remains. The identification came from Austria, said student David Flores, who was at the protest.
The case has ignited citizen indignation across Mexico and abroad for the fact that the students disappeared at the hands of a corrupt local government and that federal authorities took 10 days to intervene.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets, some calling for President Enrique Pena Nieto to resign. The case has come to signify the abuse of authority and corruption that is engrained in the Mexican system and that all Mexicans experience on a regular basis.
Marching to the protest site Saturday, thousands of people filled streets in central Mexico City shouting, "Justice,""We want them alive," and "Pena out."
"The parents will not rest until we have justice," said Felipe de la Cruz, father of one of the missing students.
Noting that the identification is for just one of the 43 disappeared, he said, "If they think one confirmation will leave us simply to mourn, they're wrong."
The teacher trainees in Ayotzinapa aired the following message in their official account of Facebook.
"Companions to all who have supported us, I am Alexander Mora Venancio. "Through this voice I speak I am one of the 43 who had fallen in on September 26 in the hands of the narco-government".
The message continues:
"Today 6 December confirmed Argentine experts to my father that one of the fragments of my bones found belong to me. I am proud of you that have raised my voice, courage and my libertarian spirit".
And it ends:
And it ends:
I am proud of you that have raised my voice, courage and my libertarian spirit'.
'don't leave my father only with regret, for him I mean practically everything, hope, pride, their effort, their work and their dignity.'
I invite you to intensify your struggle. That my death not be in vain. Make the best choice but don't forget me. Rectify it if it is possible, but do not forgive.
This is my message. Brothers to victory
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