Second Ayotzingapa normalista has been identified, parents reject "findings", experts say possibility is "low"

Lucio R. Borderland Beat
update at bottom

Jhosivani's sister stands before his photo

He was once misidentified as the normalista whose face was flayed and eyes removed.  His parents went to the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) of Iguala.  Martina de la Cruz, touched the corpse of the young man, without a face, without eyes, and knew it was not her son. “This young man is not my son”, she said while touching the hands of the body mistaken of being Jhosivani Guerrero de la Cruz.

The student without a face was later identified as Julio Cesar Mondragon, a young husband and father of a new born.  Julio, who was Los Angeles born and raised, was later that day identified by his widow, who said she did so by identifying his hands and shirt, a shirt she bought for him. 

(the couple is in the photo below left)

Julio was normalista #44, for  he was never counted among those, the world would come to know as the #43.

The experience of seeing Julio, thinking it was her son, was a shock to Martina, another trauma she, and her husband Margarito had to endure in the hours after receiving word that their son Jhosivani was dead.

For days Martina de la Cruz, slept on the floor of the Normalista school, the floor where Jhosivani had slept prior to September 26, 2014.  The waited for further news on the whereabouts of their son. 

Their wait continued until today, when the analysis of mitochondrial DNA of Jhosivani Guerrero and his mother, revealed a match to remains discovered among evidence collected by the forensic anthropology team working on the case.

The University of Innsbruck in Austria, identified the remains of Jhosivani Guerrero de la Cruz, one of the 43 missing normalistas Ayotzinapa between 26 and 27 September 2014. Guerrero de la Cruz is the second normalista identified.

Alexander Mora's parents are yet to receive the bone identified as their son

The first remains were identified from normalista Alexander Mora Venancio. In December 2014, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAG) discovered the remains.

In November of that year, the PGR sent to the University of Innsbruck in Austria.  The analysis was conducted at the Central Laboratory DNA of Austria.

Furthermore, on 1 September, the PGR delivered to the University of Innsbruck 53 Ayotzinapa case related objects. The PGR announced that samples were reviewed and classified by experts of the agency and by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF). Jhosivani was identified in the September samples.

Jhosivani's father Margarito holds a photo of his son

Jhosivani was 20, he was nicknamed "Korean" and wanted to be a teacher in Omeapa.

The following is from the “Todos Somos Ayotzinapa” website.

"He was looking for an opportunity to excel, he aspired to have a job that would help the community.

We are from Omeapa, a community that is 15 minutes from Tixtla  municipality, although we are close to Tixtla, the people live with lack of public services and many basic needs. 

In order to go to high school, Jhosivani had to walk two miles up the road, to take the shuttle, and then walked the same two miles back. 

His entire family is dedicated to agriculture, he was looking an opportunity to excel when he applied for Normal (Rural) Teaching School Ayotzinapa.

He aspired to have a career and help the community, because in Omeapa the teachers are from faraway places so the teachers have no interest in Omeapa ́s children, and frequently leave the job, with no replacement.

So if the children want a better education, they have to go to schools at Tixtla,  Because of this Jhosivani wanted to be a teacher in Omeapa.”

 UPDATE

Parents refute PGR findings, translated by Mexico Voices

Felipe de la Cruz, spokesman for parents of the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students, rejected the report presented yesterday by the Office of the Attorney General (PGR), which asserts that some of the remains sent to the laboratory of the University of Innsbruck, in Austria, might be those of Jhosivani Guerrero.

Interviewed by telephone, De la Cruz said that with this information and that of some newscasters it is intended to undermine the report presented by experts [Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, IGIE] from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR):

"We knew that there was going to be a response from the federal government to refute the IGIE's report:

"The problem is that now the PGR says the remains are his [Jhosivani Guerrero's], because there is only a slight match, and it is very low.

"We do not accept the PGR's report, and we will not [accept it] until they verify it scientifically. For now we are going to wait for what the members of the Argentine team of experts tells us. We're going to meet with them now."

The opinion of the Argentine forensic experts is that:

"the probabilities are very low that they are his (Jhosivani Guerrero), but the Attorney General managed it as if it were a fact that the remains are his."