5 years, 43 missing students, parents still waiting for answers

Sep 27, 20190

Photos by Associated Press and New York Times count

Until we find them: Parents and relatives of the 43 missing college students have found purpose in the ritual of protest, gathering with banners depicting their loved ones outside the attorney general's office in Mexico City. The government has so far failed to uncover basic facts about what happened to the students, last seen being forced into police trucks in 2014. The families continue to call for justice - many having given up everything to search - as they marked the five-year anniversary of their children's disappearance. Said one mother: "We'll keep pushing until we find out what happened. Until we find them."

That weekend began like so many others in the southern Mexico town: The main square hosted a political rally, and there was a soccer match nearby. Students from a rural teacher-training college were trying to secure buses for a trip to Mexico City.

But what happened on that Friday, Sept. 26, 2014, has become a symbol of the violence, impunity and broken rule of law that plagues Mexico. By the end of the night, six people were dead, and 43 of the students, last spotted being forced into police trucks, had vanished. Five years later, their whereabouts are still unknown, their cases unsolved.

http://www.startribune.com/5-years-43-missing-students-parents-still-waiting-for-answers/561476662/