Search for missing Mexican students reveals 129 other bodies

While searching for 43 college students missing since September, Mexican authorities have uncovered 60 secret graves containing 129 bodies.

The attorney general's office said that none of the remains, found in the southern state of Guerrero, belong to the students, who disappeared Sept. 26 in the city of Iguala after a confrontation with police. Prosecutors say the students were handed over to a drug gang, then killed and incinerated. The government said they were likely mistaken for a rival gang, The Associated Press reports, but families and Mexico's National Human Rights Commission don't agree with their findings. In a report released last week, the National Human Rights Commission said the students could have been tracked down earlier if basic investigation procedures had been followed.

There are more than 20,000 people declared missing across Mexico. Many are from Guerrero, where it's common for drug cartels to fight over smuggling routes and territory. Of the remains — 112 are men, 20 are women, and the rest are undetermined — only 16 have been identified as of July 23.

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