Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

BROOKLYN, Iowa (AP) — For years, his employer said the young man from Mexico presented himself as a legal U.S. resident and reliable worker at a family dairy farm in Iowa. But this week, the image of Cristhian Bahena Rivera transformed in a matter of hours. Now he’s accused of illegally living and working in the U.S. and of being a predator who kidnapped and killed a beloved young woman. Rivera appeared in court Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge in the death of 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts.

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — A judge has approved a motion to move the trial of an Iowa couple charged in the starvation death of their 16-year-old adopted daughter. The Des Moines Register reports that a judge on Wednesday agreed that pretrial publicity surrounding the case necessitated moving the trial of Marc and Misty Ray out of Dallas County. The Rays have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in death and other counts related to the May 2017 death of Sabrina Ray.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmers and ranchers in two southeastern Iowa counties who’ve suffered losses and damages from recent drought may now be eligible for federal emergency loans. That news came Wednesday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Appanoose and Van Buren counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — Experts say the systems offered by the U.S. government to check the legal status of workers like the Mexican man now suspected of killing an Iowa college student can be easily exploited through identity fraud and gaps in government systems. In the case of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the 24-year-old now charged with murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, Rivera’s ex-employer said Wednesday said it didn’t use the federal E-Verify program, correcting information it used a day earlier.