Several hours after Garner failed to return from his task, a family member "found Garner's dentures and pieces of his body in the hog enclosure." Authorities are still undecided on the specific cause of death: did Garner fall into the pen and get attacked by his livestock? Did he suffer a stroke or heart attack, and the pigs consumed him post mortem? Or was foul play involved?
A full-grown hog is an impressive animal. Several of Garner's hogs weighed over 700 pounds, and one of them had previously bitten him. Garner had talked about culling that particular animal, but he eventually decided to keep her. The previous incident had occurred when Garner had accidentally stepped on one of the sow's piglets, and perhaps it's understandable that the sow would attack under those circumstances.
