In Mexico, new suspect detained in disappearance of 43 students

A new suspect was arrested in connection with the September 2014 disappearance and alleged killing of 43 college students in Mexico, officials announced on Friday.

Felipe Rodriguez – also known as “Brush” or “The Stubborn One” – was identified by the office of Mexico Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam as a member of the Mexican gang Guerreros Unidos, the Associated Press reported. Authorities believe him to be the “material author” of the students’ murders.

According to the New York Times, prosecutors claim that municipal police in the city of Iguala gave the students over to the organized crime group Guerreros Unidos, following orders from the city’s mayor, José Luis Abarca. The students vanished in Iguala, Guerrero, after participating in demonstrations against school budget cuts on Sept. 26.

The remains of one of the students was identified in December.

At the time Attorney General Murillo Karam announced the student’s identity, he also told the press that mayor Abarca and his wife, María de los Angeles Pineda Villa, were taken into police custody under suspicion of their involvement in the students’ disappearance.

Relatives of the 43 missing students from the Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College distribute flyers during the search for the students in Lomas del Zapatero, on the outskirts of Iguala, Guerrero on Jan. 15. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

To date, Mexican authorities have conducted more than a dozen searches, taken statements from 385 people, and detained 97 people in connection with the disappearance of the 43 men.

Authorities met with the students’ families on Jan. 13. During that meeting, officials said that no member of the military or federal law enforcement had been implicated in the disappearance or suspected killings of the students.

Many family members still believe that the students are alive and they have continued to search for them, including over the Christmas and New Year holidays.