BROOKLYN – The Iowa family who manages the farm where Cristhian Rivera worked has received more than 100 threats since news broke that he used to work there.
The Lang family owns Yarrabee Farms, a dairy operation in Brooklyn. Rivera worked there for a time. He’s accused of murdering 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts. Rivera is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
Dane Lang is the co-owner of the farm. He spoke to reporters about what his family has been going through and answered questions abotu Rivera’s immigration status.
“We are deeply saddened by the news,” said Craig Lang, Dane Lang’s father. “We have lost one of our own. The individual arrested was employed at our family farm operation. We are small 6th generation farm in Poweshiek. We are shocked to learn that one of employees was involved.”
Dane Lang said that the family has been cooperating with investigators. He said that when he heard the news that his former employee was the alleged murderer of Mollie Tibbetts, he was shocked. He said that Rivera had turned in paperwork that was verified through the government, showing he was ok to work on the farm.
“When anyone applies to us, they must provide government ID,” said Lang. “This individual provided a state-issued photo ID. Our practice is to take a second step further and verify. We ran the information through our system, and the information came back verified.”
Lang said that Rivera was a standard employee, he came into work every day on time, and was friendly with his coworkers. Lang also said that Rivera provided a different name when he applied for a job at the farm.
Lang said that the family has received dozens of death threats since the news broke. Someone threatened to burn down the farm, and shoot his dog.
