NYT | J Wan/Lincoln Journal Star/AP
Not all deaths can be explained, medical examiners caution. But Zach’s mother, Justy Riggs-Panther, could not understand how officials were unable to provide a cause for the sudden death of a teenager at an industrial-scale farm. This fall, she requested a tissue sample from her son’s autopsy for independent testing, but the county attorney refused to release it. “My son is dead,” Ms. Riggs-Panther said in an interview. “There ought to be answers.”
The hog farm where Zach died is one of nearly 100 owned by Pillen Family Farms, founded by Jim Pillen (above), now the governor of Nebraska.