Four missing Ecuador boys found burned...16 soldiers arrested

All four missing teenagers were found burned to death in a youth disappearance that shook Ecuador.The Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office,

, said on the 31st local time that "an analysis of the genes of four recently discovered bodies in the Guayaquil Taura area confirmed that four boys were missing on the 8th."

It also arrested 16 soldiers who were known to have been involved in kidnapping and other crimes.

The boys' bodies were burned, making it difficult to identify their faces and fingerprints, local daily Eluniverso reported, citing police.

Earlier on the 8th of last month, police reported that four teenagers were missing while returning from a soccer game in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The families of the missing confirmed that "the soldiers took the children," but the military initially denied the contents, and later admitted that 16 soldiers were involved in the incident through an investigation.

The soldiers took them near the military base, saying, "The children robbed a woman's stuff," but prosecutors reportedly concluded that there was no evidence of the boys' robbery.

In addition, citizens protested in the wake of the incident and claimed that military speculation killed black teenagers in slums.