Flatwater senior investigative reporter Yanqi Xu spent months reporting on the unexplained death of the 17-year-old who died at a Pillen Family Farms’ hog farm in 2024.
Working with editors from the New York Times — she’s doing a yearlong local investigative fellowship with the NYT — she fought for and combed through endless public records and interviewed dozens of people. She quizzed 15 different death investigation experts on the potential causes of the teen’s death. She spoke to federal investigators past and present. She contacted representatives of Pillen Family Farms and Gov. Jim Pillen’s office. And she became the first reporter to hear from the mother of the 17-year-old who died as well as the Nebraska forensic pathologist who conducted his autopsy.
What she found: Missteps and missed opportunities, including Pillen Family Farms’ representatives blocking federal investigators from doing timely air quality tests and the only remaining testable blood sample being mistakenly destroyed. She also learned that the mother, Justy Riggs-Panther, had grown frustrated with the lack of answers and requested a piece of her son’s body from the county attorney so she could get it independently tested — so she could try to get answers on her own.
The county attorney turned down her request.
Two quotes stand out. One is from Dr. Erin Linde, the forensic pathologist who conducted Zach Panther’s autopsy.
“The type of investigation that really should have been done wasn’t done.”
And one from the mother, Justy Riggs-Panther.
“My son is dead. There ought to be answers.”
Read Yanqi Xu’s latest important Nebraska story here. Her name is pronounced Yen-chee Shoe. Every Nebraskan should learn it, because there is no tougher, no more tenacious, no more skilled journalist in our state than she.
Hot damn, we published a lot of good stories this week:
- A department at UNL has produced homegrown meteorologists and geologists — critical jobs in a state where agriculture remains the economic backbone. Earlier this month, NU’s regents eliminated the program, and experts say it’s going to hurt ag. It’s new Flatwater reporter Anila Yoganathan’s first story. Congrats, Anila!
- A Lincoln Diocese parishioner alleged misconduct by a priest. The diocese barred the priest from being alone with kids. But church officials have never publicized the allegations, or looked for other victims, the priest’s accuser says. An important one from Flatwater reporter Emily Wolf.
- An uplifting one from Shelby Rickert, in her final story as a yearlong Flatwater university fellow. Tessa Domingus struggled with mental health issues and addiction before being sent to prison. There, she connected with the nonprofit that would help her find a sense of purpose. This weekend, at age 44, she’ll become a college graduate.
- Faced with a bleak financial situation, lawmakers turned to a little-known fund to help domestic violence survivors and pay for other priorities. They found $3 million … but now that money may never be delivered. Another one from Wolf, who had a helluva week.
- And last but certainly not least: The yearlong Steak Town USA series concludes with your favorite food critic and mine, Sarah Baker Hansen, picking winners in each steakhouse category and using a highly scientific method to pick the best steakhouse in Omaha. You can’t argue, it’s math! (OK, you can argue.)
You’re making this possible: It is mind-boggling to me that the six stories I just shared with you were all produced by Flatwater journalists and published this week. We have come so far from our humble beginnings when Yanqi, Natalia Alamdari, Matt Wynn and I were officing in a space that, swear to God, had previously been used as a supply closet.
How did we get here? Support from people like you. If you haven’t donated lately to support the mission of nonprofit news, and a growing newsroom that is churning out important Nebraska stories, I would so appreciate a gift under our tree this holiday season. Be a nonprofit news Santa Claus by clicking here.
From now ’til the end of the year, every $1 you donate becomes $3 because of a local match and the national NewsMatch campaign.
A brief note on the big dogs: In the last few weeks, we have published stories in partnership with ProPublica and the New York Times. Big national newsrooms are easy to lampoon and caricature. I’ve done it a few times myself. And they’re no more infallible than any other organization.
But I feel compelled to tell you this: I have been absolutely blown away by these newsrooms’ attention to detail, their commitment to accuracy, their obsession to get it absolutely, positively right as they work with Flatwater reporters. I truly wish every reader could see the process they go through to publish a piece of investigative journalism. It’s painstaking. It’s awe inspiring. Watching it renews my faith in the unwavering power and importance of our free press.
These editors who work behind the scenes at places like NYT and ProPublica never get thanked. So … thank you.
Questions wanted: Some of our best story ideas come from readers, and they typically start with a burning question that just cries out for an answer. Have a question that our reporters need to look into? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor
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Here’s what we’re into this week: News from around Nebraska
Every week, we like to share great Nebraska journalism, no matter who made it. Here’s what caught our eye this week:
- An important one from NPR Midwest Newsroom’s Daniel Wheaton, appearing here on Nebraska Public Media. Recent college grads are having a rough time finding jobs. Their college loan payments are due soon.
- Nebraska lawmakers are recommending that State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst be expelled from the Nebraska Legislature after he allegedly groped a staffer earlier this year. Story by the Nebraska Examiner’s Erin Bamer.
- Transportation is needed by more rural Nebraskans. But, at the same time, it’s getting hacked out of the state budget. Story by NPR Midwest Newsroom’s Nick Loomis, appearing in Nebraska Public Media.
- Another one from the Examiner, this time from editor Aaron Sanderford. Nebraska’s congressional delegation is pressing the federal government to allow the state to secure more federal broadband funding.
A few weeks ago, Flatwater reporter Joshua Shimkus detailed how the state may end up returning some $350 million in federal funding meant to boost internet, mostly in rural Nebraska. - I can justify sharing this final story because it has a tangential connection to a well-known Nebraska steakhouse. But mostly I’m sharing it because I want you to read Liz Cook’s hilarious and absolutely brutal takedown of Patrick Mahomes’ and Travis Kelce’s new Kansas City steakhouse. Bon appetit!
