SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Department of Justice said Friday it is dropping its investigation into the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl attending a De Anza College house party, in large part because witnesses were too drunk to remember what happened that night.

The Attorney General's office said in a statement that it would not file charges in the case because many of the witnesses had drank large quantities of alcohol at the party and subsequently gave "wildly conflicting accounts of the evening."

The girl told authorities she "has no memory of anything that happened at the party beyond her initial arrival."

"That is certainly nothing any parent would like to see," Deputy Attorney General Joyce Blair said at a press conference in San Francisco. "Anyone in these circumstances suffers and we certainly consider her a victim."

Blair said prosecutors were left with "insufficient admissible evidence" after interviewing 20 witnesses, reviewing 100 hours of taped interviews and serving several search warrants to view computers and cell phones.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr issued a statement Friday afternoon thanking the California Attorney General's Office for reviewing an alleged De Anza College sexual assault case.

"After a thorough and careful review of the reports, statements and evidence, including additional interviews with witnesses, the Office of the Attorney General has affirmed that our Office handled this matter properly. Equally important, the Attorney General has reached the same conclusion on the merits: this case cannot be prosecuted successfully," Carr's statement Friday said.

Deputy Attorney General Joyce Blair said during an afternoon news conference Friday that after an extensive investigation her office had come to the same conclusion as the district attorney's office -- that there is not enough evidence to prove without a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred.

"We have come to the conclusion that there is insufficient admissible evidence to prosecute," she stated.

Authorities began investigating athletes and other students at the community college in Cupertino, about 40 miles south of San Francisco, after a birthday party for one of the school's baseball players where the alleged attack occurred.

Despite her decision being supported by the Attorney General's Office, Carr said the resolution of the controversy does not make her happy.

"As a former leader of this Office's sexual assault unit, a former judge, and as a mother, my heart goes out to this young woman when I think about what happened to her that night. As your District Attorney, I am frustrated that this Office cannot bring this matter to criminal court," Carr said.

However, filing charges that would not result in a conviction would be worse than not filing charges, according to Carr.

"A failed prosecution makes it less likely that other victims will report sexual assaults," Carr said.

While the Attorney General's Office noted that there is a 10-year statute of limitations on sexual assault cases in the event new evidence turns up in this case, Carr said her office considers the case closed.

Three young women who allegedly removed the victim from the party issued a statement Friday afternoon through San Francisco attorney Jim Hammer.

"We're disappointed beyond words at today's decision and at the criminal justice system," the statement by Lauren Bryeans, Lauren Chief Elk and April Grolle said. "The message seems to be if you get an underage girl drunk enough you can get away with rape. Our hearts go out to the victim and to all victims of sexual assault."

Eight ball players were suspended from the team after the alleged rape was reported.

The Attorney General's office said the suspects gave inconsistent accounts and none them believed that a sexual assault occurred.

The teenager who was the alleged victim of the gang rape filed a civil suit against the players in March.

The girl was seeking an unspecified amount of money from nine former players and another young man who attended the party.

It accuses them of false imprisonment, slander for telling others she consented to have sex with them, and violating her privacy by taking pictures of the alleged assault. She is not identified in the suit.