Categories: World

Former mayor cleared of kidnapping charge in case of 43 abducted Mexican students

close Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for May 31

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

The former mayor of a southern Mexico town where 43 students were abducted and disappeared in 2014 has been cleared of a kidnapping charge in the case, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed Wednesday.

José Luis Abarca, who will remain in prison for other crimes, had been considered one of the key figures in the students’ disappearances on Sept. 26, 2014 in Iguala.

The students from a rural teachers’ college at Ayotzinapa had hijacked buses — a common method for students from poor schools to obtain transportation — and were in Iguala that day. Iguala municipal police were among the first authorities to stop the buses and take the students off. More than eight years later, only small bone fragments of three of the students have been recovered and positively identified.

Investigations have been riddled with flaws, and courts have tossed out cases against other potential suspects. Some charges didn’t hold up because evidence was obtained through torture.

BIDEN HITS CHINA, MEXICO WITH SANCTIONS FOR COUNTERFEIT, FENTANYL-LACED PILL PRODUCTION

A kidnapping charge has been tossed out against the former mayor in a case of missing Mexican students.  (Fox News)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While the motive remains unclear, investigators have shown that local, state and federal authorities, including the military were involved, as well as members of the Guerreros Unidos organized crime gang. A theory that Abarca ordered their abduction for political reasons was discarded; a leading hypothesis now is that the killings were somehow connecting to the area’s heroin trafficking.

In addition to being cleared of kidnapping charges, Abarca was absolved this month of an organized crime charge, because prosecutors did not prove he belonged to Guerreros Unidos. A judge did, however, sentence Abarca to 92 years in prison for several unrelated aggravated kidnappings that happened a year before.

Despite the symbolism of Abarca no longer being charged in the students’ kidnapping, López Obrador said Wednesday that the court’s decision does not affect efforts to achieve justice. “We continue the investigation and we are not going to fail to keep our promise” to arrive at the truth, he said.

Share

Recent Posts

Here are Trump’s top accomplishments 50 days into his Oval Office return

President Donald Trump has been back in the Oval Office for 50 days, which has…

10 minutes ago

Trump pledges to ‘lead the charge’ against Rep. Massie, likens him to Liz Cheney

President Donald Trump lashed out at Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in a Monday night Truth…

10 minutes ago

Judge rules DOGE likely subject to public records requests, says department operating in ‘unusual secrecy’

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, is likely subject to the Freedom…

10 minutes ago

Trump says he will buy a Tesla to support Elon Musk and his ‘baby’

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would purchase a Tesla car to support his…

10 minutes ago

Abbey Gate terrorist, human smuggling ring leaders, cartel bosses among Bondi DOJ’s first-month successes

Attorney General Pam Bondi spent the first month at the Justice Department arresting ISIS-linked terrorists…

10 minutes ago

American college student missing in Dominican Republic didn’t drown, Natalee Holloway private eye believes

close Video Virginia college student missing in Dominican Republic Officials believe 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki drowned…

2 hours ago