In this Dec. 3, 2015 photo, children play in a recently inaugurated fountain with colored lights, surrounded by posters of the 43 missing students outside City Hall in Iguala, Mexico. Fifteen months ago, when 43 rural college students disappeared at the hands of local police and cartel thugs, Iguala became the symbol of Mexico’s narco-brutality. Now, federal police are in charge of security, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party controls city hall _ and Mayor Esteban Albarran Mendoza wants to move forward.

In this Dec. 3, 2015 photo, necklace pendants in the shapes of weapons, crosses and hearts are for sale at a shop in Iguala, Mexico, a city that for decades was one of Mexico's top destinations for jewelry shoppers. According to the new Mayor Esteban Albarran Mendoza, at one time his city was only second to Guadalajara in gold sales. But in the year since 43 students disappeared at the hands of the police and drug gangs, thrusting the city on to the world's map, jewelry sales have dropped 70 to 80 percent. The local economy is in bad shape and many businesses are facing hard decisions if the situation doesn't improve.

In this Dec. 2, 2015 photo, federal police, which are now in charge of security, patrol Iguala, Mexico. Despite the presence of federal and state police, and the military, there is no sign that trafficking has abated around Iguala or elsewhere in Guerrero state, a producer of marijuana and opium paste for the U.S. heroin market.

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, people with missing family members meet in the basement of San Gerardo Church where the Spanish word "Welcome" hangs from the window in Iguala, Mexico. Iguala's new mayor wants to "turn the page" on the ugliest chapter in the history of this southern Mexican city. But disappearances continue, and most of the missing have not been found. For hundreds of families there is no possibility of turning the page as long as they have no proof of death or a body to mourn.

In this Dec. 2, 2015 photo, a woman walks her daughters past Guerrero State Police officers standing guard in Iguala, Mexico. Since the disappearance of 43 students 15 months ago, authorities have disbanded the local police force, former Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca Velazquez was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of the 43 students, and 66 police from Iguala and neighboring Cocula have been jailed.

In this Dec. 1, 2015 photo, people with missing family members listen to representatives of Mexico's Attorney General's Office as they discuss the progress of their cases in Iguala, Mexico. From January to October, murders in Iguala were up 25 percent from the same period the previous year, with 81 deaths among a population of 150,000. In the once glamorous beach resort of Acapulco, 751 people were killed, a 59 percent increase.

In this Dec. 3, 2015 photo, children play in a recently inaugurated fountain with colored lights outside City Hall in Iguala, Mexico. Fifteen months ago, when 43 rural college students disappeared at the hands of local police and cartel thugs, Iguala became the symbol of Mexico’s narco-brutality. Ten other disappearances in Iguala have been reported to authorities since the 43 students vanished, according to the government’s registry. But since few people report such incidents when they happen, the actual number is likely much higher.

In this Dec. 2, 2015 photo, Guerrero State Police patrol in Iguala, Mexico. Authorities disbanded the local police force that allegedly turned 43 students over to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel, which authorities say was closely allied with former Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca Velazquez. The parents of the 43 students continue to demand to know what happened to their sons.

In this Dec. 2, 2015 photo, the new Mayor of Iguala, Esteban Albarran Mendoza, speaks to reporters at City Hall in Iguala, Mexico. Albarran, 47, has fine plans: a transparent government, a growing and more prosperous city. But he acknowledged this month that Iguala remains insecure. “There is anxiety. There is not peace. There is not security. We want to turn the page on all these kinds of things,” Albarran said.

In this Oct. 1, 2015 photo, a man begs for money as he sits on the road in Iguala, Mexico. Last year, on Sept. 26, 43 rural college students disappeared at the hands of local police and cartel thugs throwing this city in the world's map and exposing the deep allegiances between drug gangs, the mayor and local police. Hundreds of other disappearances began to be reported and the local economy has yet to recover.