Mysterious death of teen at Pillen Family Farms

17-year-old worker died, mother still wants answers

Yanqi Xu is examining the agricultural industry in Nebraska as a part of The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship.

Zach Panther hadn’t yet figured out his future: whether to pursue college or find a job in a nearby city. To put away some money, his mother encouraged him to work at a hog farm outside his hometown of St. Edward.