A tragedy no ancient greek playwright could fathom

This weekend Greece sat anxiously by their television sets to see if the remains of 11 year old Alex from Veria, missing since February, were buried in a old, run-down house not far from his home. The tragic news that broke out late on Friday evening were that 5 juveniles (aged 11-13) had confessed Alex's murder and then... "took it back". "We said we killed him because we were scared of going to jail", said one of the 5. The body of young Alex wasn't found at the place the suspects had reported they had buried him in their confessions before they retracted. And foul play by an adult who conspired to help them is suspected. My role isn't to report the story, I will link you to what english pages I can find regarding the story here, here and here. However, I can't restrain myself from commenting what I felt as the story unraveled and then got tangled again.

I felt horror. Some people cried racism was the motive, I'm not sure this is the case, however, since the perpetrators (assummed innocent until proven guilty) are of mixed backgrounds, they are Greek, Romanian and Albanian. Their common denominator, however, is their social and family status. Kids from unstable, low-class homes that seek vengeance for their underpriveleged lives by bullying other kids who are better-off than they are (not in terms of money, but in terms of happiness). In this case, Alex. Alex was a gifted child, a good child that stood up to them during recesses and their bullying but was caught alone with them one cold February evening, never to return home, to his loving family and stable environment.

Whether they did it or not, the situation is troubling all the same.
If they didn't do it, what sort of people will these 5 young kids grow to be when they can lie about murder as easily as if they hadn't done their homework?
If they did do it, how do 5 young "innocent" souls live 3 months without remorse? If they are able to live with blood on their hands at 11, 12 and 13, what will they be capable of "living with" as adults?
What cruel family environment and incognizant school played part in their making?

My eyes brimmed with tears, while I viewed Alex's mother pleading for any information regarding her son's whereabouts, her brave response to a callous reporter's question "What do you think?"... she hopes Alex is still alive somewhere, somehow.

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