1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: From Futro Media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Maria INOJSA. 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Today a story about the forty three students from Ayotsi, Napa, Mexico, 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: from our friends that Revealed, the radio show by the 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: Center for Investigative Reporting. Now I'm going to hand things 5 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: over to Al Letson. He's the host of Reveal, the 6 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: show from the Center for Investigative Reporting. 7 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 2: It's September twenty twenty one, and Omar Gomez Trejo is 8 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 2: leading a crowd of reporters down the slope of a 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 2: steep and stony ravine somewhere in the southern Mexican state 10 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 2: of Guerrero. The journalists traveled more than six hours in 11 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 2: a caravan of vehicles for a chance to see this 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 2: site las camera. Despite the harsh sun overhead, the treacherous 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 2: path underfoot, the thorny brush and fighting flies, the group 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 2: is eager to visit this place. It's been close to 15 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 2: them since investigators found a collection of bone fragments here. 16 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 2: The reporters cluster around Omar and turn on their microphones 17 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 2: fiscal in a way, all of Mexico is waiting to 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 2: hear what Omar has to say. He's not a politician 19 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 2: or big time movie start. Nothing like that. Omar is 20 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 2: a forty something human rights lawyer with a scruffy beard, 21 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 2: clarkcat glasses, and tattoos up his arms. He's at the 22 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 2: center of an investigation into one of the most horrific 23 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 2: crimes in Mexico's modern history. 24 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 3: Investigation. We're opening new lines of investigation and identifying more 25 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 3: places to search. We continue to make inroads. 26 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 2: Maybe you've heard of this case when students from a 27 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 2: rural teacher's college which were violently attacked by police. Forty 28 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 2: three young men were taken away and never seen again. 29 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 2: It happened in September of twenty fourteen, and its garred Mexico. 30 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 2: More than seven years have passed since the disappearance of 31 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 2: the students, and the parents continue to live without knowing 32 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 2: what happened to their sons. A why the President of 33 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 2: Mexico teppt Omar to saulve what's come to be called 34 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 2: the Ayotzi Napa case, named for the teachers college the 35 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 2: students attended. 36 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 3: Mikimostras material as familiar as my team and I want 37 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 3: to communicate to the families of the forty three students 38 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 3: of Ayotinapa, our deepest commitments with the search of your sons. 39 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 3: Nomos leesperanza, ismos aciendo. We will not lose hope, and 40 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 3: we will keep doing whatever is humanly possible to find 41 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 3: your children. 42 00:02:58,520 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 4: Esses. 43 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 2: On the one hand, it makes perfect sense for Omar 44 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 2: to be the face of this high profile government investigation. 45 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 2: He's been involved in it almost since the beginning. On 46 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 2: the other hand, it's the last thing he ever expected 47 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 2: given his past experience. You see, not that long ago, 48 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 2: the Mexican authorities were doing everything they could to get 49 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 2: Omar off the case and out of the country. 50 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 3: They can understand I was put in a place where 51 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 3: I was actively being targeted. I was all over the 52 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 3: media being set up. 53 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 2: The case of the missing students has been an odyssey 54 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 2: for Omar, the families of the missing boys, and the 55 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 2: people of Mexico. It also has a surprising connection to 56 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 2: US policy. We're going to tell you this story in 57 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 2: a way no one else can, because for the past 58 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 2: year and a half we've been following the investigation into 59 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 2: this crime from the inside. We've done that with help 60 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 2: from Omar himself. He's allowed reveal Reporter Aniyanci diz Cortes 61 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 2: and our partner for this story, human rights investigator Kate Doyle, 62 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 2: into his day to day life. They've been having regular conversations, 63 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 2: and Omar has even been keeping an audio diary Ladistan. 64 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 2: Kate is with the National Security Archive, a nonprofit research 65 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 2: institute in Washington with no ties to the US government. 66 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 2: They use freedom of information laws to expose human rights 67 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 2: atrocities in Latin America and hold their governments accountable. And 68 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 2: Aniyanci has been following this case since it happened in 69 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 2: twenty fourteen. 70 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 5: I was living in Los Angeles when this all went down, 71 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 5: and La is very much a Mexican city, so it 72 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 5: shook all of us. It was huge news, and I 73 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 5: was covered Mexico at the time, and I just remember 74 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 5: wanting to grab my editor by the caller and say 75 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 5: send me there. I need to cover this. Public radio 76 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 5: needs to be there, but I was pregnant. I was 77 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 5: seven months pregnant, and it was impossible. So instead I 78 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 5: remember just following obsessively on my phone as it was unfolding. 79 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 2: Anniyanci says the story is especially important to her as 80 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 2: a Mexican American. 81 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 5: The Mexican part of me knows that this is a 82 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 5: crucial test for Mexico's justice system because it goes beyond 83 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 5: these forty three missing students. More than ninety thousand people 84 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 5: are missing in Mexico today and the perpetrators they haven't 85 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 5: been brought to justice. If you ask the families right 86 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 5: now of the disappeared, they'd say that the government doesn't care, 87 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 5: that they have to seek their own justice. And then 88 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 5: there's the American part of me. The American part of 89 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 5: me wants people to understand that there is a US 90 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 5: connection and that they should care because we bear response 91 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 5: ability on this side too. This story connects to the 92 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 5: War on drugs because in na Yotzinapa, it took a 93 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 5: bad situation in Mexico and made it so much worse. 94 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 5: It actually stoked chaos, corruption and violence, and Americans don't 95 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 5: even think about this while Mexicans have to live with 96 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 5: the consequences of the War on drugs every single day. 97 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 2: Reveal is devoting three episodes to the ayotz Napa case, 98 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 2: which will take us from the heart of rural Mexico 99 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:32,600 Speaker 2: to the suburbs of. 100 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: Chicago, coming up on Latino, USA. Anayanzi introduces us to 101 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: one of the young men who was there that night 102 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen, stayed with. 103 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 6: Us and then two or three police cars arrived local police. 104 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 6: They barricaded us, first from the front and then the back. 105 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: Hey we're back. Here's host Al letson once again from reveal. 106 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 2: What ended up being one of Mexico's most notorious human 107 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 2: rights crimes took place late on Friday night in September 108 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 2: twenty fourteen. Before we move on, we should mention that 109 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 2: this story does include some graphic details of gun violence. Reveals. 110 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 2: Anianci dis Cortez walks us through what happened through the 111 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 2: eyes of one of the students who was lucky enough 112 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 2: to survive. 113 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 5: It's September twenty sixth, twenty fourteen, and Nico Barrerez resting 114 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 5: in his dorm room after band practice the first week 115 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 5: of classes kicked his butt, but he's happy. Nico's studying 116 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 5: to become a teacher at a rural college in southern Mexico. 117 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 5: He's twenty one old to be a freshman. After high school, 118 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 5: he fixed fridges and washing machines for a couple of years, 119 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 5: but he could barely make ends meet. Then his buddy 120 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 5: Danielle Solis told him about this teacher's college you have 121 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 5: no other choice if you want to study. Danielle told him, 122 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 5: come on, let's do it together. 123 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,599 Speaker 3: For me lose a part of me. 124 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 6: And so this became like a light of hope because 125 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 6: I wanted to keep studying. I didn't want to get 126 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 6: stuck just working, so I took his advice. 127 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 5: Danielle had just turned eighteen. Nico felt like his older 128 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 5: brother punto. 129 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 6: We tried to do everything together, to do always be together. 130 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 6: I was older, and I promised his family I would 131 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 6: take care of him. 132 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 5: Danielle nicoar from Guerrero, one of the poorest states in Mexico, 133 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 5: where there's few opportunities for young men. Someone put it 134 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 5: to me this way. In these parts of Guerrero, boys 135 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 5: are born campecinos, farm workers. If that's not what you 136 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 5: want to do in life, you've got three main choices. 137 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 5: Track to the US to try your luck there. Join 138 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 5: elenarco As and become a drug trafficker. Or come to 139 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 5: this college les Cuela nor Mal Rural Rauli Siro Burros 140 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 5: Daoinapa Lanormal and study to become a teacher. That's what 141 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 5: Danielle Nico wanted. But there's a few things that you 142 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 5: should know about the way it works. First, the school 143 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,319 Speaker 5: is free funded by the state, and its bare boats. 144 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 5: There are no dorms. Nico and Nanie live with eight 145 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 5: to ten students in a tiny concrete room with no windows. 146 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 5: A single light bulb hangs from the ceiling. They all 147 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 5: sleep on the floor. And La Normal is rooted in 148 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 5: leftist politics and social protest. It was founded in nineteen 149 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 5: twenty six after the Mexican Revolution. Its mission to create 150 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 5: a generation of activist teachers who would fight for the 151 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 5: rights of the poor. They're known for protesting a lot. 152 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 5: They speak up against government corruption and police brutality. The 153 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 5: biggest event of the year is a pilgrimage to Mexico 154 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 5: City every October second. That's the day in nineteen sixty 155 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 5: eight when leftist students protesting military and police violence were 156 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 5: gunned down in a public plaza the troops. 157 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 6: Of Movements as a peaceful. 158 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 5: Demonstration, the army was circling the flies like all the plaza, 159 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 5: the three cultures there are all the a peaceful rally, 160 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 5: but now the troops are coming. 161 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 7: You're gonna hear what it sounds like. 162 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 5: That anniversary is just a few days away. When a 163 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 5: group of older students show up and tell Nico another freshman, 164 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 5: get ready, we have a job to do. 165 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 6: They just said, let's go this way. 166 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 5: He and sixty other students get on a bus parked 167 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 5: on campus. One of the older kids says, we're gonna 168 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 5: hit the streets and ask for money donations for the school. 169 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 5: But asking for donations isn't the only thing this trip 170 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 5: is about. The older students plan to take over buses 171 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 5: so kids from other rural schools can make that pilgrimage 172 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 5: to Mexico City on October second. I know this sounds odd. 173 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 5: Maybe the word stealing comes to mind, but it's more 174 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 5: like borrowing. Students in Mexico have been commandeering by is 175 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 5: for decades. It's one of the only ways they can 176 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 5: travel because the state doesn't give them the money they 177 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 5: need to have buses. Most of the time, the bus 178 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 5: companies and drivers go along with it and help the students. 179 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 3: Out and on the road. 180 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 2: I don't know. 181 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 6: I felt a kind of heavy vibe and everything was calm. 182 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 6: I sent something strange, but you know, we kept going. 183 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 5: They pull into a town called the Iguala, about halfway 184 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 5: between their college in Mexico City. 185 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 6: We got to the bus station and started to spread out. 186 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 6: We woke up and some compagnios were already in the station. 187 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 6: We started to take some buses. We got three in total, 188 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 6: and we had two of the buses that we brought 189 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 6: from the school, so there were five. 190 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 5: Usually when police hear about students taking buses, they'll try 191 00:12:55,880 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 5: to bust them, but they have to catch them first. 192 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 6: We started to leave. Then we arrived at the point 193 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 6: where there was a town score. 194 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 5: They keep driving and so far no cops. It feels 195 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 5: like they got away. 196 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 6: Then two or three police cars arrived, local police. They 197 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 6: barricaded us, first from the front and then the back. 198 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 5: Now what typically happens is a shouting match, maybe some 199 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 5: rock throwing, an arrest or two of students get rowdy, 200 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:39,839 Speaker 5: but tonight. 201 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 6: They didn't want us at all. They just got down 202 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,560 Speaker 6: and started shooting. Shooting to kill. 203 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 5: Nico's count was recorded about a week after the attack 204 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 5: by an American reporter covering the story. We'll meet him 205 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 5: later in the show. This is the first time it's 206 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 5: being broadcast. We should also mention that Nico is not 207 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 5: his real name. We changed it because he's been threatened 208 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 5: and harassed for telling his story. 209 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 6: One of our compagnos try to get out and do 210 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 6: something to move the police cars, and that's when the 211 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 6: first one of us was shot. I saw my compagno 212 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 6: on the ground, lying in a pool of blood, convulsion, 213 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 6: and that the police just never stopped shooting. 214 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 5: Nico throws himself on the floor, dodging shards of glass 215 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 5: and bullets. He inches towards the back of the bus. 216 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 6: I was taking cover, and you're a broken window and 217 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 6: it was totally busted, but I could peek through. I 218 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 6: saw two cops pointing at us, and then I saw 219 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 6: a bunch of They had already been arrested, but they 220 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 6: continued to shoot, and and all of us continued to shout, we. 221 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 5: Are students, we are not armed. On another bus, Lalo 222 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 5: Lopez is up for the fight with the cops. Again. 223 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 5: We changed his name because he's been harassed for speaking out. 224 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 8: I was up in the front with the bus driver. 225 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 8: He gave me the fire singer shut and he said, here, 226 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 8: throw this at them. It'll explode and then all you 227 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 8: guys could escape, and then so can I. But right 228 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 8: when I threw it, they shot me, and that's when 229 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 8: we realized we were done. 230 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 5: And he gave up the bullet went right through his arm, 231 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 5: blood everywhere. They tell the driver we can't keep fighting, 232 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 5: We're gonna surrender. 233 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 8: When we got off the bus, the police stood on 234 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 8: the side of the door and started to pull us 235 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 8: out and put our hands behind our heads. Mam was 236 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 8: hurting me, and then they started to throw us down 237 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 8: on the ground. 238 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 5: And then one student, a junior, stands up to the cops. 239 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 8: He this, They grabbed and beat him in the stomach 240 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 8: with the butt of the rifle. They knocked him to 241 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 8: the ground and started to beat him in the face. 242 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 8: If it's such bad asses, they show it now, you damns. 243 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 5: The next thing Lallo feels is a gun barrel on 244 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 5: the side of his head. Then a cop says, but 245 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 5: if I. 246 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 8: Kill him, and I thought, well, this is and then 247 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 8: just seconds later, he moves the rifle away from my 248 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 8: forehead and that same guy CAUs an ambulance. 249 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:15,199 Speaker 5: The ambulance arrives a few minutes later and Lalo is 250 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 5: taken to the hospital. As they're driving away, he's able 251 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 5: to glance back. 252 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,120 Speaker 8: And that was when they started to put my compas 253 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 8: in different police vehicles. I could see it. Mi copas 254 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 8: were just crying. None of them said a. 255 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 5: Word from inside his bus. Nico sees this too. Police 256 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 5: push the students towards some pickup trucks and make them 257 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 5: climb in the back, one leg over the tailgate and 258 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 5: then the other. They forced them to lie down. The 259 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 5: trucks move out. The cops ride in the back and 260 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 5: on the sides, resting their feet on the student's backs. 261 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 6: Those of us inside the first bus were still just 262 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 6: waiting for it to be our turn. But then the 263 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 6: police all started leaving. Then we didn't hear anything and Cilesia, 264 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 6: everything went quiet. The street was calm, silent, and that 265 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 6: was when we started to get off the bus. 266 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 5: It's around ten thirty eleven and the students gather outside 267 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 5: the buses. Nico hugs his friend Danielle. He can't believe 268 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 5: they made it out alive. They check who's injured, who's okay, 269 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,959 Speaker 5: who's missing. They see bullet holes, casing, huge pools of blood. 270 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 5: Despite their shock, their instinct is to secure what is 271 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 5: now a crime. 272 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 6: Scene, and we agreed not to move a single shell. 273 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 6: The compagnos were taking photos and filming. Some people started 274 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 6: to arrive, including parents, but they started to walk all 275 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 6: over the evidence, so we made a human chain to 276 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 6: protect the area. 277 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 5: The students call their teachers and local reporters, and soon 278 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 5: they show up. The gathering turns into an impromptu press conference, 279 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 5: with students giving statements trying to describe what just happened, 280 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 5: but there's so much They can't explain why the police 281 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 5: opened fire, where they took their buddies. When suddenly, Nico 282 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 5: sees a suspicious car inside a man with a machine 283 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:33,360 Speaker 5: guns a light. 284 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 6: He started shooting in the air and then shooting at us, 285 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 6: the bullets hitting the pavement. It was like Christmas, like firecrackers. 286 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 6: So what we did then was run. 287 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 5: The next few minutes are chaos. Nico finds himself with 288 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 5: about eight other students crouching behind cars. Then they make 289 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 5: a run for it and jump over a fence into 290 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 5: a lock. Had our two small houses. The owners come 291 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 5: out and students asked to stay in their patio, which 292 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 5: was hidden from view. 293 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 6: And yes, they let us stay there, to hide there 294 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 6: and wait. We were all bunched up together in the 295 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 6: patio trying to hide as best we could. 296 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 5: One of the students gets a call. 297 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 6: That was when someone told us that two students had 298 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 6: been hit. One of them was Gino. 299 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 5: Elchino as in Curly because of Danielle's curly hair. It 300 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 5: was Danielle Solis, Nico's buddy. 301 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 6: I didn't want to believe that it was Danielle. I 302 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 6: wanted to believe that he had been able to run 303 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 6: and get to safety. 304 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 5: Around this time, Nico feels a drop of rain and 305 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 5: soon it's pouring. The boys huddled together in the downpour. 306 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 6: One compagne told me that he had been standing next 307 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 6: to Danielle and was able to see him where he 308 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 6: was lying in the street, crying for help. He said 309 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 6: he wanted to go back, but those those were still shooting. 310 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,640 Speaker 6: He said he saw Danielle with blood on his neck. 311 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 6: I was very upset with that Compa. Wow, why didn't 312 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 6: you tell me? If I had known, and if I 313 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 6: had seen it, I wouldn't have cared if they shot me. 314 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 6: I would have gone back for him. 315 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 5: And finally, just as Don is breaking, the downpour becomes 316 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:45,200 Speaker 5: a drizzle. 317 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 6: It was around six in the morning when we got 318 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 6: a call from a compa. He asked where we were 319 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 6: and told us that it was all over. He told 320 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,439 Speaker 6: us to come out of hiding, that that it was okay. 321 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:09,719 Speaker 5: Now they walk out onto the puddled streets, soaking wet, 322 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 5: coming up. 323 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: On Latino USA. News of the attack on Nico and 324 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: the other students would soon spread throughout Mexico, sparking a movement. 325 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: This is when Omad, the young human rights lawyer, decides 326 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: to get involved. 327 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 3: Wow, no, no, I had never seen a protest that 328 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 3: big in Mexico. 329 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: Look coming up, an AYANSI with that part of the story. 330 00:22:36,760 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 1: Stay with us, Hey, we're back once again. Here's al 331 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: letson from reveal. 332 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 2: As the sun breaks through the clouds over Iguala, the 333 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 2: rain stops, and Miko decides to make his way back 334 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,640 Speaker 2: to the school. 335 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 6: The minutes felt eternal, and then once we arrived at 336 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 6: we felt a sense of relief. 337 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 2: By the time he gets there, word has spread about 338 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 2: the attack on the students and the murder of Daniel 339 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 2: and others. And when Nico goes to the dorms, Daniel's 340 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 2: parents are there. 341 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 3: He kissed. 342 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 6: And his mother broke down crying, and all I could 343 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 6: do was hugger and ask for her forgiveness for not 344 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 6: taking care of him like I wanted to. 345 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 2: Back in Iguala, where the shooting took place, things are 346 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 2: in chaos. Some students are still hiding in houses too 347 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 2: scared to come out. Others are on the hillsides miles away. 348 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 2: Some of the guys regroup in Iguala Center and try 349 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 2: to tally who's missing. They figure out that three students 350 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 2: are dead, three bystanders were killed two, but they can't 351 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 2: find the dozens of other students who were arrested and 352 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 2: taken away by police in pickup trucks. The survivors assume 353 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 2: those boys are in custody, so they make their way 354 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 2: to the courthouse and find the town's prosecutor. We want 355 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 2: to bail out our Campagnio's and go in peace, they 356 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 2: tell them, But there's no one to bail out. The 357 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,359 Speaker 2: missing students aren't in jail or in cussody, and the 358 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 2: police say they have no idea where they are, and 359 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:21,640 Speaker 2: to this day we still don't know what happened to them. 360 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 2: Reveals Anianci Diaz Cortes got to spend time with the 361 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 2: mother of one of the missing boys and has her story. 362 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 5: It's been more than seven years since Nico and the 363 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 5: other students were pulled out of those buses, and Christino 364 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 5: Sansio sleeps in her son's room every single night. It's 365 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 5: better this way. 366 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 4: She tells me, Ben coming a Sintio Bautista is the 367 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:53,120 Speaker 4: l guarto de This is his room, the passar mucho tempo. 368 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 9: A long time had passed. I would see his room 369 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 9: and I felt like I couldn't go in. It made 370 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:04,400 Speaker 9: me sad and everything, And one day I made the decision. 371 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 4: Little meetings to sleep in his room to feel closer 372 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:10,920 Speaker 4: to him. 373 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 5: So every night she slips into his bed, imposing her 374 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 5: loneliness onto his space, and every morning she leaves it clothes, shoes, 375 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 5: hair gel, exactly how he left it when he went 376 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 5: to college. In twenty fourteen, men Khamen was one of 377 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 5: the dozens of boys taken away by police that Friday night. Gristina, 378 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 5: who everyone calls Dona Cristi, lives in a village deep 379 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 5: in the mountains of southern Mexico, so she didn't get 380 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 5: the news until days after the incident. Her brother read 381 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,120 Speaker 5: her the newspaper headline over the phone. 382 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 9: Yeah, my post, and I began to just feel this 383 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 9: pressure in my chest. Then I called him and nothing. 384 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 9: It went to voicemail, voicemail, voicemail, and I began to worry. 385 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 5: Can't get a hold of bencamin So she gets on 386 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,160 Speaker 5: a bus and heads to the school. 387 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 9: I cried the whole way. 388 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: I don't know. 389 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 9: I just felt, why what happened to my son? Why 390 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 9: doesn't he answer me? I would try to think positive, 391 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 9: Maybe they stole his phone. I kept thinking this, it 392 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 9: happens on this a bit. 393 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 5: Of I just started crying. Once at the school, she 394 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 5: stands under the archway at the entrance, hoping, praying that 395 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,640 Speaker 5: her son would be there and run up to her. 396 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 9: And so I went up to one of the boys 397 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 9: and I said, when I started, I came to visit 398 00:27:55,960 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 9: my son. And he said, what's your son's name? 399 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 4: And the becoming asta and. 400 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:10,440 Speaker 9: He said to Mithia, your son disappeared with the other compagneros. 401 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 5: Dona Cristi can't find the words to respond. 402 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 3: Better not. 403 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 9: But don't worry. We're looking for them. We're going to 404 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 9: find them. 405 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 5: But the students were not found that day, or the 406 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:32,920 Speaker 5: next or the next yeap Martirio, and that's when their 407 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,919 Speaker 5: martyrdom began. Dona Cristi and all the other parents go 408 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 5: to the state capitol with photos and birth certificates they 409 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 5: found missing persons claims and demand their boys be found. 410 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 5: What did they tell you nothing. 411 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 9: I kept asking what, how, what happened? Because the survivors 412 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 9: saw everything, how their camps were taken away in police cars. 413 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 5: It was like they were disregarding what Nico and the 414 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 5: others had lived through that night. All the authorities did 415 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 5: was swab the parents for DNA and take blood samples. 416 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 5: But that wasn't enough for the mothers and fathers. 417 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 4: Marcia quemos Americo. Marcia. 418 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 9: We went to march. We went to Mexico City to march. 419 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 5: Within days, the families take to the streets. Hundreds of 420 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,960 Speaker 5: people join them. Because even in those early days, the 421 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 5: families fear they're being lied to, that the government isn't 422 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 5: doing enough to find their children. So instead of waiting 423 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 5: for the authorities to just tell them what happened, the 424 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 5: families decided to get outside help. With their lawyers, they 425 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 5: get a renowned Argentine forensic team to work on the 426 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 5: case on their behalf. Slowly, the news of what happened 427 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 5: in Iguala starts to spread. John Gibbler remembers sing the first. 428 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,480 Speaker 10: Headline Subteber twenty seventh, it's my birthday. An initial headline 429 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 10: read something like police and students from Ayotzineapa clash in Iguala, 430 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 10: six people dead and fifty seven students disappeared. 431 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 5: John is a journalist in Mexico City. He's from the US, 432 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 5: from Texas, but he's been in Mexico a really. 433 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 10: Long time and the initial impact was just shock and disbelief. 434 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 5: So a few days later, on October second, he heads 435 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 5: to the same march that Nico and the other students 436 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 5: had been planning to go to with those buses, the 437 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 5: march that commemorates the nineteen sixty eight student massacre in 438 00:30:58,760 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 5: Mexico City. 439 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 10: And the march just seemed totally deflated. Of course, nobody 440 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 10: had come from Guerrero because people in Garedro were desperately 441 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 10: looking for forty three disappeared students. At that moment, there 442 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 10: was no presence of this mass force disappearance in this march. 443 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 10: That is actually what shocked me, and that was the 444 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 10: moment that was undecided. I was like, we need to go, 445 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 10: We collectively mini reporters need to move quickly because something really, 446 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 10: really big is happening. 447 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 5: That same night, John goes home and packs a change 448 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 5: of clothes, two notebooks, and a tiny, old Sony handheld recorder. 449 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 5: The next morning, John shows up at the school and 450 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 5: starts piecing together what happened the week before. He gets 451 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 5: to work interviewing every survivor, including Nico and Lalo, who 452 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 5: you heard from earlier in the show. He figures out 453 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 5: that the actual number of students taken by the police 454 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 5: is forty three. His interviews end up becoming crucial to 455 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 5: standing that night in Iguala the very first recorded accounts 456 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 5: from survivors and eyewitnesses. While he was doing those interviews, news. 457 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 10: Came out that the police in Iguala had located a 458 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 10: series of mass graves in the hillside outside of town. 459 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 10: And with this news, a group of us all went 460 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 10: in a small caravan two Iguala. Two cars. We were trailed, 461 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 10: probably starting about five miles before getting into the city 462 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,520 Speaker 10: by men on motorcycles who at every red light would 463 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 10: pull up right next to us and just look in 464 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 10: and listen to our conversation and then keep following us 465 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 10: until the last turn we took. 466 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 5: The last turn is a few miles from town on a. 467 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 10: Hillside, so we get there, there's an army blockade, The 468 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 10: Marines are there, the state police are there, and they 469 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:56,719 Speaker 10: wouldn't let reporters get close to the grave sites. 470 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 5: One soldier even shoots off his gun to scare forographers 471 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 5: inching too close to the site, John recognizes the police 472 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 5: commander and walks up to him. 473 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 10: Do you know how they found these graves? And that 474 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 10: was the official who told me that the bodies and 475 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 10: the graves belong to the students and that the rest 476 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 10: of the students had gone home. Of course, I said, 477 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 10: that's impossible. We just came from the school. We were 478 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 10: just with the parents. And he's like, no, no, look there's 479 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 10: you don't have good sell service here. You'll see when 480 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:29,040 Speaker 10: you get back down into town that the rest of 481 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 10: the students are back home. Just that level of this gotto, right, 482 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 10: there's just shamelessness. 483 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 5: Back at the school, the parents are getting the news 484 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:43,440 Speaker 5: about the graves. 485 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 4: And guendolos guerposalistas. 486 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 9: They found the bodies, very burned, very tortured. They are 487 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 9: the students. That was such a heavy blow. I maybe 488 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 9: my son is there. The chills I got, I lost 489 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 9: all my strength. I remember saying, oh God, give me strength. 490 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:15,720 Speaker 9: I don't want to faint here, and I just grabbed 491 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,320 Speaker 9: hold of myself until the shock passed. 492 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 5: By this time, the team of independent forensics experts has 493 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,319 Speaker 5: a rived from Argentina and they begin taking their own 494 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 5: swabs from the families of the forty three missing students. 495 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:38,160 Speaker 9: And they said, with this DNA test, they will not 496 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 9: be able to fool you. They said, we're going to 497 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,320 Speaker 9: help you. The government won't be able to give you 498 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 9: a body that isn't your son and then tell you 499 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 9: to go. 500 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,760 Speaker 4: Home, madriss no your And. 501 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 9: They told us we don't know if it's them, so 502 00:34:54,440 --> 00:35:00,360 Speaker 9: please calm down. But how are we going to calm down? 503 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 9: We couldn't control it. We were just weeping. 504 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,799 Speaker 5: The government gave the team from Argentina access to the 505 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 5: bodies found in the mass graves and they spent days 506 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 5: collecting DNA and comparing it to the families. In the end, 507 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 5: there were twenty eight bodies in the graves, but they 508 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 5: weren't the students. They were other people, a mother and 509 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 5: a child, older men, women. It was a different group 510 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 5: of disappeared people. This is where the story of the 511 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 5: forty three missing students becomes part of something much bigger. 512 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:47,320 Speaker 5: See for years, people had gone missing all across Mexico, 513 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 5: tens of thousands of them. Families of the missing people 514 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 5: suspected gangs or cartels, but they didn't go to the cops. 515 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,759 Speaker 5: They couldn't they believe the police were involved or who 516 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:05,120 Speaker 5: afraid to investigate. Discovering the mass graves changed everything in Mexico. 517 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,479 Speaker 5: If these were not the students, who were they who 518 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 5: buried them? There? How many other graves could there be? 519 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:16,799 Speaker 5: Just like that, Mexico woke up to the reality of 520 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 5: the tens of thousands of people who had simply vanished 521 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 5: and propelled a movement, and it swept up people like 522 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 5: omaros be. 523 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 3: Absoluteci. It was a watershed moment in Mexico. The feeling 524 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 3: in Mexico was outraged. It was like are they or 525 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,719 Speaker 3: are they not? The students are like, I don't know 526 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,279 Speaker 3: know way they do that, and this question over and 527 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 3: over again. It begins to create a cloud of doubt. 528 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,360 Speaker 3: La clad tell us the truth about what happened and 529 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 3: how it happened, and especially about what the government was 530 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,560 Speaker 3: doing in that moments. 531 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 5: Omar is the man we met at the top of 532 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 5: the show. At this point, he's working for the United 533 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 5: Nations in Mexico City, and along with thousands of others, 534 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:07,440 Speaker 5: he takes the streets. 535 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,080 Speaker 3: Our job was to go and accompany the protests with 536 00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 3: our un vests going along with them to make sure 537 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 3: that it was a peaceful demonstration, that there was no 538 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,239 Speaker 3: violence by the authorities, meaning we were also sharing in 539 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:32,600 Speaker 3: that sentiment. I remember the feeling of outrage, fear, despair, and. 540 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:37,200 Speaker 5: Now those protests represent the heartbreak of tens of thousands 541 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 5: of families whose loved ones have disappeared. The forty three 542 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,240 Speaker 5: students exposed a national crisis. 543 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 3: No, wow, No, I had never seen a protest that 544 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:50,240 Speaker 3: big in Mexico. 545 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 4: Never. 546 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,960 Speaker 3: How is it possible that forty three students are uncovering 547 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 3: the mass grave that is Guerrero. 548 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,879 Speaker 5: That was in the city. In the countryside, people take 549 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,640 Speaker 5: to the hillsides with sticks and flashlights to poke the 550 00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:12,359 Speaker 5: ground and look for remains, and they find more mass 551 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 5: graves that month, many more containing dozens of bodies. The 552 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 5: bodies in those graves aren't the students either. Back at 553 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 5: his office, Omar follows the news and slowly becomes obsessed 554 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 5: with the case. He'd been telling his boss to let 555 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:37,160 Speaker 5: him work on it more closely, and one day his 556 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,279 Speaker 5: boss pulls him into his office. You've been wanting to 557 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,719 Speaker 5: be a part of this while there's been a breakthrough 558 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,520 Speaker 5: the government thinks they found the students, and the Attorney 559 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 5: General needs someone from the Yuan to go. You're it. 560 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 5: The government said they had a. 561 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,240 Speaker 3: Lead Mcuilkey, TOMAMUSUNELIKOPTERO, and Elan GADeL. 562 00:38:57,719 --> 00:39:00,239 Speaker 5: The next thing Omar knows, he's in a helicopter with 563 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 5: another un observer on their way to garbage stop in 564 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,600 Speaker 5: a place called Cocula, about half an hour south of 565 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:09,320 Speaker 5: the town where the students were taken. 566 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,200 Speaker 3: Flew to a soccer field in Cocula near the dump. 567 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 3: Suddenly we see many trucks drive by and a person 568 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,960 Speaker 3: with a baseball cap comes up to us. Oh, hi, 569 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 3: am tomaseron good afternoon. 570 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,600 Speaker 5: Tomas Seron, a trusted aid of President Panetto and head 571 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 5: of the government's investigation into the case. He orders a 572 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,640 Speaker 5: car and an SUV pulls up in front of them. 573 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,120 Speaker 5: Omar and his colleague Black slide. 574 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,279 Speaker 3: In play you, Pilara and I are were sitting in 575 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:45,319 Speaker 3: the middle, and all of a sudden, these two guys 576 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:47,160 Speaker 3: get in with their huge guns. 577 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 5: The whole time Omar is thinking, We're thinking. 578 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 3: Are they arresting us or or what? And then all 579 00:39:55,719 --> 00:40:00,279 Speaker 3: of a sudden, the suv speeds off and it takes 580 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:01,399 Speaker 3: us directly to the dump. 581 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,480 Speaker 5: It's all very confusing. They bounce along a rocky road 582 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,560 Speaker 5: until they get to the dump. From a distance, he 583 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:12,520 Speaker 5: can see forensic people sifting through dirt and garbage. 584 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:16,399 Speaker 3: No probably as pork and comolos buso. You couldn't really 585 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:18,640 Speaker 3: tell who was who because you know, they had their 586 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:23,600 Speaker 3: hazmat suits, but we knew the Argentinian team was working there. 587 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 7: You see, we're in this gigantic hall full of garbage, 588 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:32,560 Speaker 7: which is very weird, right. It was an entire wall 589 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:35,480 Speaker 7: of like forty meters all full of garbage. 590 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:40,080 Speaker 5: That's mercere leader of the Argentine forensic team working for 591 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:44,680 Speaker 5: the parents of missing students. Everyone calls her Mimi, like Omar. 592 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:48,120 Speaker 5: The government called Mimi to come to the dump. Mimi's 593 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:51,040 Speaker 5: team sets up a perimeter and agrid to analyze the 594 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,440 Speaker 5: entire scene for evidence of the students. 595 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:56,399 Speaker 7: They were bones. We couldn't tell if they were yet, 596 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,040 Speaker 7: if they were human or not, but we could see 597 00:40:58,040 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 7: they were bones and there was and that all that 598 00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:00,760 Speaker 7: was burned. 599 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:03,440 Speaker 5: Mimi and her team work hard. For the next day 600 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 5: or so. They're examining the bones they turn up and 601 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,640 Speaker 5: the charred remains of garbage. Then they get an urgent 602 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:12,440 Speaker 5: message from government officials. 603 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:17,520 Speaker 7: One of the two Fidderal prosecutors came to the garbage 604 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:19,839 Speaker 7: damp and said, you have to come to another place, 605 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:22,879 Speaker 7: to another side. And I said, but we're working here, 606 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,799 Speaker 7: we don't have a lot of people. You have to come. 607 00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:28,680 Speaker 5: She climbs up the wall of garbage, with the prosecutor 608 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,080 Speaker 5: pressing her to hurry. We must go now, and she 609 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 5: gets into an official car and speeds away. It's a 610 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:39,879 Speaker 5: dizzying turn. Just as urgently as the government wanted them 611 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,600 Speaker 5: to rush to the dump a few days ago, they're 612 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,840 Speaker 5: now switching gears and sending them to a different place. 613 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 7: And that's when we went. They took us to the 614 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 7: Rio Sanque, where there was another completely different scene. 615 00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:56,560 Speaker 5: This time it's at a small river and near the 616 00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:00,799 Speaker 5: river bank. There's already a Mexican forensics team into their work. 617 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,279 Speaker 5: They were brought there by Domas Seron. They're cleaning and 618 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,600 Speaker 5: laying out burnt remains on the ground. The remains were 619 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,279 Speaker 5: in a plastic garbage bag that had been pulled from 620 00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:10,719 Speaker 5: the water. 621 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,839 Speaker 7: They were coming out with fragments of bones, a lot 622 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:17,040 Speaker 7: of different fragments. Maybe I don't know how many. They 623 00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:19,360 Speaker 7: could have been a hundred or more something like that. 624 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:23,640 Speaker 5: To her eye, the bones all seemed charred, almost cremated. 625 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:26,560 Speaker 5: She looks for a fragment. They could be a good 626 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:27,760 Speaker 5: candidate for testing. 627 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:31,920 Speaker 7: I remember, very distinctly, I saw this fragment of bone 628 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:34,440 Speaker 7: that was very different from the rest, because it was 629 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:38,279 Speaker 7: way bigger and it was almost not burned. Immediately caught 630 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,040 Speaker 7: my attention because I thought it was very different from 631 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:43,200 Speaker 7: the rest, and because I thought, if in this bag 632 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:44,839 Speaker 7: there is more like this, we're going to be able 633 00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:46,799 Speaker 7: to get DNA, and so we're going to know if 634 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,880 Speaker 7: these remains belong or not to the students. 635 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:53,360 Speaker 5: And was there more like that? No, that was the 636 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:57,240 Speaker 5: only one, And so Mimi sets that bone aside, feeling 637 00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:00,879 Speaker 5: reassured even if it was the only bone in the bag, 638 00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:03,839 Speaker 5: it would be tested and the world would know if 639 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:07,720 Speaker 5: the students died here or not. Then she sees Tomaso's 640 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:08,719 Speaker 5: agents approaching. 641 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:12,480 Speaker 7: They brought these two guys to the scene de dea 642 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,239 Speaker 7: neis that they were holding from the neck like that. 643 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:18,359 Speaker 5: Mimi grabs the scruff of her own neck to show 644 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 5: me how they were holding the men. She remembers one 645 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:25,040 Speaker 5: in particular. One of his eyes was black and swollen. 646 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 7: The face of the guy, I always remember that he 647 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:31,120 Speaker 7: seemed absolutely terrorized. Looks like a kid. It was very 648 00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:33,680 Speaker 7: very young, you know, very very scared. 649 00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,440 Speaker 5: And there in front of dozens of people, this man 650 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,680 Speaker 5: who looks like a kid, starts shaking, and in a 651 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 5: barely audible voice, he begins to confess to the crime. 652 00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,759 Speaker 7: He starts saying, well, you know, we were in different cars. 653 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:50,520 Speaker 7: We brought the students up there to the garbage domp. 654 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:52,200 Speaker 7: We kill them, We burned them the home. 655 00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,000 Speaker 5: Mimi is aghast by this play by play. 656 00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:58,160 Speaker 7: You know, there's like fifty people here. This guy is 657 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:04,000 Speaker 7: incriminating himself. Their lawyer is walking around, not really actively 658 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:05,560 Speaker 7: giving them advice. 659 00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:08,560 Speaker 5: Then one of Seddon's men turns to. 660 00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:13,400 Speaker 7: Mimi Doty Doritty ask questions, am I authorized to interrogate someone? 661 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:16,800 Speaker 7: I'm just one anthropologist, just doing the work, you know, 662 00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:19,000 Speaker 7: And I was like, no, no, no, I'm not gonna 663 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:21,400 Speaker 7: because I felt I'm not sure if this is legal. 664 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,600 Speaker 5: Almost as if sensing her concern, the police start talking 665 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,560 Speaker 5: about how well they're treating the detainees and. 666 00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:30,600 Speaker 7: The fact that they call my name. And the fact 667 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:33,719 Speaker 7: that they said several times, see how they we treat 668 00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 7: them well, See how we treat them well? Was my 669 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:38,919 Speaker 7: mind was exactly the opposite. And that's when I thought, 670 00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:40,799 Speaker 7: is this torture here? 671 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:42,160 Speaker 9: For me? 672 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:44,520 Speaker 7: It was there was a red flag there. 673 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:48,359 Speaker 5: But as far as the Mexican authorities are concerned, they're 674 00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:51,600 Speaker 5: on their way to solving the case. And just over 675 00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:54,239 Speaker 5: a month after the attack on the students, they hold 676 00:44:54,280 --> 00:45:02,640 Speaker 5: a press conference. That's Attorney General Jesus Mori. 677 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:06,319 Speaker 10: Yokaram last photography. 678 00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:14,279 Speaker 5: For the next hour, the Attorney General shares photos, videotape, confessions, 679 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:18,720 Speaker 5: and maps. He says it after police attacked the buses 680 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:22,200 Speaker 5: and killed three students, they took the forty three others away. 681 00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,480 Speaker 5: He says. These cops were working in cahoots with a 682 00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:35,600 Speaker 5: local gang called Guererosunidos led by z Astuvio known as 683 00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:39,520 Speaker 5: El Hil, orders them killed. Elhil is now on the run, 684 00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:43,880 Speaker 5: he says. Then the Attorney General shows a video of 685 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:51,920 Speaker 5: the same guy who Mimi saw at the River's confessing 686 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:57,640 Speaker 5: to killing the boys. We took them in the largest truck, 687 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:06,359 Speaker 5: he says, to the garbage dump Akou by the time 688 00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:10,239 Speaker 5: they arrived, he says, fifteen of the boys are already dead, 689 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:20,239 Speaker 5: smothered under the weight of their classmates. After showing the video, 690 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:23,920 Speaker 5: the Attorney General continued. He says the rest of the 691 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:27,160 Speaker 5: boys were taken to the garbage dump and shot dead 692 00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:31,040 Speaker 5: one by one. The gang members threw the bodies down 693 00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:35,680 Speaker 5: a steep hill of garbage, then cover them with tires, wood, plastic, 694 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:40,520 Speaker 5: and finally gasoline and burned them for sixteen hours. They 695 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,560 Speaker 5: put the remains into plastic garbage bags and took them 696 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:48,440 Speaker 5: to a nearby river. There, he says, they dumped out 697 00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:51,319 Speaker 5: all the remains except for one bag, which they threw 698 00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:54,480 Speaker 5: into the shallow water. That's the bag that had the 699 00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:59,839 Speaker 5: bone laid out. When Mimi arrived at the river, they 700 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:01,840 Speaker 5: thank you enough. I'm tired. 701 00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:02,040 Speaker 6: Now. 702 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:05,960 Speaker 5: This is how the Attorney General and the hour long 703 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:11,680 Speaker 5: press conference and that one line, yamik Anseh becomes a 704 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:17,240 Speaker 5: rallying cry for the parents. I am tired. The parents 705 00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:20,239 Speaker 5: do not believe the government story. They have the same 706 00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:25,600 Speaker 5: suspicions as Mimi Redi. It just doesn't seem plausible. Here's 707 00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:30,520 Speaker 5: Dona Cristi who lost her son Ben Kamien. What do 708 00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:31,560 Speaker 5: you think the truth is. 709 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:36,440 Speaker 9: I ask her, whatever it is, I need to know. 710 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:42,120 Speaker 9: I need the truth. I want my son to return 711 00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:45,799 Speaker 9: to achieve his dreams of being someone in this life. 712 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:52,640 Speaker 5: Within weeks of the Attorney General's press conference, they travel 713 00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:57,000 Speaker 5: to Mexico City and gather in front of President Beganetto's residents. 714 00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:04,440 Speaker 5: But I see he doesn't come out, he won't face them. 715 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 2: In a matter of weeks, the lives of Dounia Christi 716 00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:16,439 Speaker 2: and the other parents have been turned upside down. First 717 00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:19,120 Speaker 2: came the news of the attack on their sons, three 718 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,920 Speaker 2: killed and forty three taken away by police. Now the 719 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:26,239 Speaker 2: government was telling them the police were mixed up with 720 00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:31,240 Speaker 2: a local gang and their sons were dead. Investigators seemed 721 00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:33,600 Speaker 2: anxious to close the case and tell the families to 722 00:48:33,719 --> 00:48:36,840 Speaker 2: move on, but the parents knew there was more to 723 00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:39,719 Speaker 2: the story. They had a lot of questions, like why 724 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:41,840 Speaker 2: were the students attacked in the first place. 725 00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:48,680 Speaker 1: This story continues on the Reveal podcast feed, where you'll 726 00:48:48,719 --> 00:48:52,960 Speaker 1: meet an American DEA agent who's convinced that the answer 727 00:48:53,160 --> 00:48:55,719 Speaker 1: has a lot to do with an illegal drug operation 728 00:48:56,200 --> 00:48:58,120 Speaker 1: right here in the United States. 729 00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:01,960 Speaker 9: Is hijacked the wrong bus. 730 00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:04,000 Speaker 5: They hijacked the role bus. 731 00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:07,040 Speaker 1: To me, it was just so crystal clear that if 732 00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:10,759 Speaker 1: not for that being the bus they hijacked my my 733 00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:15,120 Speaker 1: anpothesis is they might over will be alive today. And 734 00:49:15,239 --> 00:49:18,560 Speaker 1: we also learned how Omargo Mistrejo found himself at the 735 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:21,799 Speaker 1: center of a new investigation, one that put in question 736 00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:25,560 Speaker 1: everything the Mexican authorities were saying about that bloody night 737 00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:40,360 Speaker 1: in Iguala. This episode was produced by Reveal from the 738 00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:44,720 Speaker 1: Center for Investigative Reporting. The Latino USA team includes Andrea 739 00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:49,920 Speaker 1: Lopez Rusado, Marta Martinez, Mike sargent Urria Ta Martinelli, Victoria Strada, 740 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:55,160 Speaker 1: Patricia Sulbaran, Gini montalbo, alejandras Ada, Said Rinaldo Leanos Junior, 741 00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:59,040 Speaker 1: and Julia Rochard, with help from Raulpees. Our editorial directors 742 00:49:59,120 --> 00:50:03,080 Speaker 1: Julio Ricardo bre Our supervising senior engineer is Stephanie Lbau. 743 00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:07,160 Speaker 1: Our assistant senior engineer is Julia Caruso. Our associate engineers 744 00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:10,440 Speaker 1: are gabrielle A Bias and jj Carubin. Our digital editor 745 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:14,120 Speaker 1: is Luis Luna. Our fellows are Elisa Baena, Monica Morales 746 00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:18,240 Speaker 1: and Andrew Vignalis. Our theme music was composed by Zenia Rubinos. 747 00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:21,600 Speaker 1: I'm your host and executive producer Marino Kosa. Join us 748 00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:23,960 Speaker 1: again on our next episode, and in the meantime, look 749 00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:26,920 Speaker 1: for us on all of your social media. Remember not 750 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,720 Speaker 1: te vayas and see you on the next episode. 751 00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:35,719 Speaker 11: Joao Latino USA is made possible in part by the 752 00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:39,560 Speaker 11: Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of 753 00:50:39,680 --> 00:50:44,280 Speaker 11: social change worldwide, the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 754 00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:51,120 Speaker 11: and the Heisin Simons Foundation, unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. 755 00:50:51,719 --> 00:50:54,200 Speaker 11: More at hsfoundation dot org.