Office of the Mexican President

Relatives of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa attend to a conference from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico's National Palace on Sept. 26, 2020.

MEXICO CITY — Almost seven years ago, 43 students in Mexico disappeared, and the case became a driving force for many seeking reforms in Mexico’s justice and law enforcement systems.

A new lead in the investigation might bring changes to the official version of the story. A protected informant is giving new leads regarding the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in 2014.

The students disappeared after hijacking buses to attend a protest in Mexico City. The first official version of the story blamed the local police and organized crime for their murder and abduction. 

According to the new information filtered by the press, the informant says an army battalion and a drug gang kidnapped, murdered and cremated the students in a different location where the bodies were believed to be hidden.

Since last year, the current administration has ordered the arrest of people in the military, while the Mexican president blames his predecessor.