Two detectives assigned to the decade-old case of 43 missing students in Guerrero, Mexico, have themselves disappeared, spotlighting the region’s enduring violence and complex pursuit of justice.
Two detectives who were part of the investigation into the disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero, Mexico, have themselves gone missing, according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. These incidents, reported in March 2024, underscore the ongoing lawlessness and complexity of the situation in Guerrero state. The missing students vanished nearly a decade ago, in 2014, from a rural teacher-training college, believed to have been abducted by local officials and delivered to a drug cartel.
Guerrero has witnessed significant violence and disturbances related to this case over the years, including clashes between students and police, one of which resulted in the death of a student. The state’s law enforcement has faced intense scrutiny, with a recent incident involving a police officer implicated in a student’s shooting death managing to escape custody.
The region has struggled with cartel violence, as evidenced by publicized videos of cartel members brutalizing bus drivers in Acapulco. The Mexican authorities’ efforts to solve the 2014 students’ disappearances have yielded little success, with only three of the missing students’ remains identified so far.
The recent disappearance of the detectives, who were actively engaged in the investigation to find the missing students, adds another layer of difficulty to an already convoluted case. President López Obrador has voiced his concerns, hoping the detectives’ fate is not intertwined with those obstructing the search for truth. The situation demonstrates the perilous environment in Guerrero, troubled by violence, corruption, and the challenges faced by those seeking justice.
