The employer of an illegal immigrant who has been charged with Mollie Tibbetts’ murder revealed the suspect “was not who he said he was” when he gained employment on the farm.
Yarrabee Farms co-owners Craig Lang and his son, Dane Lang, were shocked to find out that one of their employees was involved in the murder of the 20-year-old college student who went missing during a jog on July 18 just outside of Brooklyn, Iowa. Her body was found on Aug. 21 in a cornfield with corn stalks placed on top of it.
The suspect, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, had worked for the small sixth-generation farm in rural Poweshiek County for four years and was an employee of “good standing,” the co-owners said in a previous statement on Aug. 21.
Dane Lang revealed on Aug. 22 at a press conference that Rivera had allegedly used a fake name and a state-issued government ID and social security number when applying for employment, reported Fox.
“What we learned in the last 24 hours, is that our employee was not who he said he was,” Dane said at the press conference.
Employers ‘Did Not Notice Any Difference’
Rivera, who was introduced to the farm by a former girlfriend, was employed to work on the day-to-day operations with the cows, according to the news website. Dane said the 24-year-old was a good employer who showed up on work on time and cooperated with other employees.Over the last month, Dane said people on the farm did not notice any difference about Rivera after Tibbetts’ disappearance.
“Nobody saw a difference. This guy stayed around for 35 days after he did this. Nobody noticed anything different,” he said.
“I wish I had seen a difference but I didn’t.”
Dane also revealed that the farm had received at least 100 threatening voicemail messages since Aug. 21 after learning Rivera was employed at their farm. He said people have threatened to burn down the building and even kill his dog, reported Des Moine Register.
“This is a really scary situation,” he said at the press conference. “And the unfortunate thing is, people are paying attention to me and we’re forgetting about the heartbroken family in Brooklyn and the heartbroken community.”
Craig, who was a former Republican candidate for Iowa’s secretary of agriculture, used the opportunity to call for better immigration laws to vet people who were coming into the country.
“During my campaign, I talked about the need for a comprehensive, traceable worker program for this country,” he said. “And that an immigration law that needs to identify the people that are here, identify where they live, what the work is and these people have to live within the laws of the land.”
“That is the kind of immigration system we need not only for agriculture but for many other industries within the state.”
Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s name has also bee reported Christhian Bahena Rivera and Christian Bahena Rivera.
