Reporter

Sam Tabachnik

Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. He covers everything from stolen art and towing to mobile homes and quirky stories that defy category. Before joining The Post, Sam helped produce shows for NBC News, launched digital projects for The Washington Post and covered sports and arts for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Plai Bat II temple, located in Buriram Province, Thailand, near the Cambodian border, is pictured on Nov. 5, 2022. Local archeologists have marked some of the nearby stone for their own research. (Photo by Athikhom Saengchai/Special to The Denver Post)

The U.S. was a leader in cultural heritage investigations. Now those agents are working immigration enforcement.

November 9, 2025 at 10:20 a.m.

Homeland Security Investigations, the department's investigative arm, once had as many as eight agents in its New York office investigating cultural property cases.

A sign reads Prospect Ranch outside of Prospect Valley Dairy east of Keenesburg, Colorado, on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. The deaths of six people who were found at the dairy are under investigation as possible gas exposures in a confined space. (Photo By Patrick Traylor/The Denver Post)

What is hydrogen sulfide? Toxic gas eyed in dairy deaths is infrequent but dangerous feature of agricultural work

September 3, 2025 at 2:45 p.m.

Experts say they've never seen this many deaths from a single exposure incident.

The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services building

What it was like to work at one of America’s most notorious funeral homes

June 10, 2025 at 1:03 p.m.

Investigators unspooled a decade-long scheme by the owner and her mother to sell hundreds of bodies and body parts.

Isaiah Stark lived in this Hot Sulphur Springs neighborhood, photographed on April 22, 2025. In 2020, the 7-year-old boy died unexpectedly in the small mountain town, raising concerns among child welfare workers in Colorado. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

A boy likely died from drinking too much olive brine. A Colorado county tried to make the suspicious case disappear

May 15, 2025 at 3:05 p.m.

Isaiah Stark died from ingesting too much sodium, the coroner found, likely due to drinking olive brine.

How will Trump’s mass deportation plans affect the construction industry?

March 24, 2025 at 6:01 p.m.

Nationally, foreign-born workers, regardless of legal status, fill an estimated 30% of trade jobs like carpentry, plastering, masonry and electrical roles.

Terrell Davis arrives to Empower Field ...

Terrell Davis says he was handcuffed, removed from United Airlines flight after tapping flight attendant on arm

July 23, 2024 at 12:52 p.m.

"I was -- and remain -- humiliated, embarrassed, powerless and angry," Davis wrote.

Angel Espino, owner of Casino Gaming Development, poses for a portrait at Ameristar Black Hawk Casino Hotel in Black Hawk, Colorado on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

This company wants to revolutionize the casino gaming world as you know it

January 8, 2024 at 5:35 p.m.

The company is starting to take off, winning first-place industry awards at global conferences.

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