Iowa Republican Craig Lang's Farm Employed Mollie Tibbetts' Killer, An Undocumented Immigrant

A 24-year-old illegal immigrant who confessed to killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts on Tuesday worked in a farm owned by the family of Craig Lang, a prominent Republican who previously served as president of the Iowa Farm Bureau.

According to property documents reviewed by Des Moines Register, Yarrabee Farms, a company that operates dairy farms in the hills outside Brooklyn, Iowa, including the farm where the suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, worked, is owned by Dane Lang, Craig’s son, and Eric Lang, his brother.

Craig is also a 2018 Republican candidate for state secretary of agriculture.

In the wake of Tibbetts’ death, the Yarrabee Farms released the following statement:

“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mollie Tibbetts. This is a profoundly sad day for our community. All of us at Yarrabee Farms are shocked to hear that one of our employees was involved and is charged in this case.

This individual has worked at our farms for four years, was vetted through the government's E-Verify system, and was an employee in good standing. On Monday, the authorities visited our farm and talked to our employees. We have cooperated fully with their investigation.

Yarrabee Farms follows all laws related to verifying employees are legal to work in the United States, and we regularly seek outside counsel to ensure we stay up-to-date on employment law matters. We keep records on all employees and have shared that information with authorities.

We appreciate the hard work of law enforcement officials. We will continue to cooperate with authorities as the investigation moves forward.”

Dane added that he was “shocked to hear” Rivera was implicated since the 24-year-old had a good standing with the employers in the four years that he was employed at the farm.

Despite the company lauding its vetting process when it came to its employees, investigators revealed Rivera was an undocumented immigrant living illegally in the United States.

Meanwhile, as soon as the news broke about Rivera’s arrest, President Donald Trump made an example out of him during his speech at a rally in West Virginia, calling for a crackdown on the existing immigration laws of the country.

"You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in, very sadly, from Mexico and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman," Trump told the crowd in Charleston, West Virginia. "Should've never happened. Illegally in our country. We've had a huge impact, but the laws are so bad. The immigration laws are such a disgrace, we're getting them changed, but we have to get more Republicans. We have to get 'em."

His thoughts were echoed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is also a Republican. "We are angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community, and we will do all we can to bring justice to Mollie's killer," Reynolds said in a statement, adding that Tibbetts’ death “could have been prevented.”

Rivera has no prior criminal record in Iowa and it was unclear whether he was ever subjected to deportation proceedings while staying in the U.S. However, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it lodged a federal immigration detainer for Rivera after he was arrested on the murder charge, meaning he could be subjected to deportation, CTV News reported.

Rivera confessed to briefly stalking Tibbetts when she had gone out for a run in Brooklyn, abducting her when she threatened to call the police. The suspect added that he blacked out after that and did not remember killing the victim. When he came to his senses, he found Tibbetts’ earphones on his lap and her bloody body in the trunk of his car.

"The defendant further described during the interview that he dragged Tibbetts on foot from his vehicle to a secluded location in a cornfield," the affidavit said.

Although the police said they searched the cornfield, which was located 12 miles southeast of Brooklyn, back when they were treating it as a missing person’s case but they did not find her body. When Rivera led them to the place where he had buried it Tuesday, police discovered it was covered with corn stalks.