Mexico's attorney general Jesus Murillo Karam declared all 43 college students missing since September dead, citing 39 confessions as well as forensic evidence from the spot where he said they were killed and incinerated shortly after being seized by police in the southern city of Iguana.
"The evidence allows us to determine that the students were kidnapped, killed, burned and thrown into the river," Murillo Karam said in a press conference that included a video reconstruction of the mass murder.
It was the first time Mexico's attorney general declared all of the students dead. Only one student was identified via DNA; a European lab said it was impossible to identify the rest.
Murillo Karam has come under fire from many, including the parents and fire experts, who say the government's version of what happened is implausible. The parents are still searching to find the students alive.
Murillo Karam said the fire was hot enough to have burned the 43, who disappeared Sept. 26. Authorities say the students' remains were bagged up and thrown into a nearby river.
IN-DEPTH:
- 'Extended Family': U.S. Latinos Mobilize For Mexico's Missing Students
- Mexican Mayor Charged In Kidnapping Of 43 Missing Students
- Protests Over Mexico's Inaction Over 43 Missing Students
--Associated Press