FBI helping Mexican investigators in case of 43 college students kidnapped and killed: report
U.S. federal agents assisting in DNA evidence testing, NBC reports. Police and political corruption led to the mass abductions and assassinations, prosecutors say.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, January 2, 2015, 4:25 PM
- A
- A
- A
EDUARDO VERDUGO/APA demonstrator places a candle on a banner showing the names and photos of 43 students who prosecutors say were kidnapped and killed with the help of corrupt politicians and police.
The FBI is providing help to Mexican authorities investigating the case of 43 teaching students who federal authorities say were kidnapped and killed, according to a new report.
The U.S. agency is assisting in DNA evidence testing at the behest of the Mexican government, according to NBC News.
Meanwhile, new questions arose about whether Mexico's federal government was aware that local police and politicians were involved in the abduction and assassinations of the students in the country's Guerreros state.
TOMAS BRAVO/REUTERSA man holds up a placard reading 'It was the State' during a protest in Mexico City Thursday night over 43 college students who federal prosecutors say were ordered to be kidnapped and killed by corrupt local politicians and police.
"The government knew exactly what was happening," said Anabel Hernandez, an investigative journalist who says she has seen thousands of pages documenting the state's investigation, the network reported.
Only one body has been identified as the remains of a student.
SASHENKA GUTIEREZ/EPAParents and relatives of the abducted students demonstrated in Mexico City Wednesday night, demanding justice for the loss of their loved ones.
Federal prosecutors have said the students' remains were so incinerated it may be impossible to identify them, even with DNA testing.
The rural college students were kidnapped on Sept. 26 after a series of demonstrations.
STR/EPAMexican police on the outskirts of the town of Iguala arrive in October at the site of a mass grave. Authorites were searching for 43 students who vanished on Sept. 26.
The mayor of Igualal, Jose Luis Abarca, has been charged, along with his wife, of ordering the kidnappings and killings.
Several local police officers have also been arrested and accused of carrying out the abductions and then handing the victims to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel, whose members killed and incinerated the students, authorities said.
The abductions and the corruption accusations have sparked massive demonstrations accross the country and tarnished the presidency of Enrique Pena Nieto.
