State prosecutors have long said that 88 women found dead in the desert outside this rough border city were killed by a gang of criminals working with bus drivers. But few people in Ciudad Juarez believed them, least of all the mothers of the victims. Now, the federal government has formally declined activists’ requests to take over the state of Chihuahua’s decade-long investigation, saying they also believe there is little evidence of a conspiracy. Under Mexican law, federal investigators can only take over murder investigations if they involve federal offenses like drugs, weapons possession, organized crime, and criminal conspiracy. Federal Assistant Attorney General Carlos Vega said there was nothing to support the state of Chihuahua’s theory that an Egyptian-born chemist, gang members and bus drivers planned the murders. “We didn’t see anything to support that,” he said. Full Story