Investigation continues into death of farmer eaten by hogs
COQUILLE, Ore. - The investigation is continuing into how an Oregon farmer came to be eaten by his own hogs last October.
The remains of Terry Vance Garner, 70, were found on his farm near the unincorporated town of Riverton between Bandon and Coquille. According to Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier, Garner's hogs ate too much of his body for a forensics expert to determine what caused his death at the scene of the accident.
His remains were then sent for further examination to a forensic anthropologist at the University of Oregon in an attempt to determine a cause.
Frasier said in October investigators will also work to rule out if Garner was the victim of foul play, and on Dec. 31, Frasier told KCBY that the investigation had not yet been completed.
"Due to the unusual circumstances," Frasier said in October, "the Sheriff's Office is investigating to determine if foul play may have resulted in the death of Mr. Garner."
Frasier hopes the University of Oregon expert can provide further insight into what led to Garner's death.
Right now the cause of death is listed as "undetermined."
It's possible Garner had a medical emergency, such as a heart attack, or was knocked over by the animals, then killed and eaten, Frasier said, adding that at least one hog had previously bitten Garner. Some of the hogs weighed up to 700 pounds.
The possibility of foul play is being investigated as well.
"For all we know, it was a horrific accident, but it's so doggone weird that we have to look at all possibilities," Frasier told The Register-Guard in October.
Terry Garner was "a good-hearted guy" who cared for several huge adult sows and a boar named Teddy, said his brother, Michael Garner, 75, of Myrtle Point.
Piglets were typically sold to local 4-H kids.
"Those animals were his life," Michael Garner said. "He had all kinds of birds, and turkeys that ran all over the place. Everybody knew him."
When I was a kid in the 60's my Mom's best friend Tilly had a farm outside Stanwood we'd visit and I remember this huge hog trying to eat the shoe off my foot while I stood on the railing.
I hope he died before the pigs ate him. As a country girl I have to say that I'd rather have animals eat me than be embalmed and filled with chemicals and hermetically sealed in a box and buried. I just hope he didn't suffer and I feel really bad for the family members that found him and I hope they can get over such a horrifying experience.
 @Julia Once you're dead, you won't realize you are being embalmed, sealed in a box and buried. Same goes for when you are cremated, stuffed into a tiny canister to sit on someone's mantle until they die and you get tossed out like yesterday's garbage because no one will know who you are.Â
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 @FlashThunder   " so always be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm"....love that movie!
 @sometimesright  @FlashThunder Ok ... I'm apparently totally out of it. What movie is that? I'm guessing "Deliverance" (even though I've never seen it)?
As a long time avid collector of strange newspaper articles I can say I have MANY articles about farmers being eaten by pigs. Most were collected while I was stationed in the south east where there are a lot more family farms than we have here. My favorite article of this genre involved a night watchman in a feed lot in the midwest who was found eaten by a pig in the morning when staff arrived. The article noted that "Police were baffled to find his clothing neatly folded on the rail of the pen." I know that pigs are smart but...
@GOATCUTTER ...eewwww, just eewww
Was Hannibal in town at that time?
 @Lone WolfÂ
...more like the Verger's...
Seemingly tragic way to go but perhaps a little de-Swine Retribution. Â But, something is missing in the story it seems. Â Did he leave a LOT of money to someone? Â Why is there such a question of foul play? Â Anyone who has been around swine or even seen Dorothy fall into the pig-pen on The Wizard of Oz knows that they can be dangerous to work around even if you are young and robust. Â Or is KOMO just trying to drum up interest in an otherwise benign story?
@Lets_Use_Some_Sense I think they questioned the possibility of foul play because there was no way to know if it was accidental or anything else. Usually when investigators attempt to solve a crime, they look at it from all angles.
 @Lets_Use_Some_Sense What! Eaten by hogs is benign? Come on this is great stuff.
I hope he didn't suffer. He sure lived in a beautiful place, and he didn't have to answer to supervisors or be cooped up in an office. Sounds like he led a good life.Â