Mexico | 1st ID from remains in case of missing 43 students

More than two months after they disappeared, concrete evidence is beginning to emerge on the fate of 43 college students whose case has caused a political crisis in Mexico. At least one of them has been identified among charred remains found several weeks ago near a garbage dump, family and government officials say.
Though there was no official announcement Saturday, relatives and fellow students at the Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa said experts had confirmed the identity of missing student Alexander Mora, a teenage farmer whose classmates called him “The Rock” for his determination.
“He was a classmate who was very strong, very persevering in whatever he had as a goal,” said student leader Omar Garcia. “It’s a big loss.”
The families were given the information late Friday by an Argentine team of forensic experts working on behalf of the relatives and with the Attorney General’s Office, relatives said. Mora’s parents were surrounded by members of the school community in their hometown of El Pericon in an area of southern Guerrero state known as the Costa Chica.
Garcia said they received the news “with a lot of courage, valor, dignity and determination.”
“When his father, Ezequiel, heard the news, the only thing he told us is that he wants justice,” Garcia added.
The identification confirmed what Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam told parents in November: that the students rounded up in a conflict with police had been killed and incinerated by a drug gang.
Parents of the missing marched with thousands of people Saturday evening in a previously planned protest in Mexico City, descending from buses with sullen faces, most declining to speak to reporters.
“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.” E. Eduardo Castillo and Maria Verza, Mexico City , AP