Rural Kentucky. Who'd have thunk...

Probably inspired by Michelle Bachmann's rant on the US Census.


WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a U.S.
Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery, and a law enforcement official
told The Associated Press the word 'fed" was scrawled on the dead
man's chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker
and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the
Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census
has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the
body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a
killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related
to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

Investigators have said little about the case. The law enforcement
official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested
anonymity, said Wednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and
the word "fed" was written on the dead man's chest. The official did
not say what type of instrument was used to write the word.

FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is helping state police with
the case.

"Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved – and that's
part of the investigation – and if there was foul play involved,
whether that is related to his employment as a census worker," said
Beyer.

Beyer declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime
scene.

Lucindia Scurry-Johnson, assistant director of the Census Bureau's
southern office in Charlotte, N.C., said law enforcement officers have
told the agency the matter is "an apparent homicide" but nothing else.