Census Takers Want Partners After Death

[sabra]

Source: CBS News/AP

Memorial Held for Census Taker Found Dead in Ky.; No Classification Yet on Death

(AP) The manager of a part-time census taker who died under mysterious circumstances in Kentucky said Sunday that other workers are requesting to visit houses in teams rather than alone.

Wayne Hatcher, the regional director of the U.S. Census Bureau's office in Charlotte, N.C., was one of two people who participated in a makeshift memorial near a spot in the Daniel Boone National Forest that Bill Sparkman's body was found one month ago with the word "Fed" scrawled on his chest. He was tied to a tree with a rope around his neck.

Although an autopsy has concluded Sparkman died of asphyxiation and the coroner confirmed the word was written on him - likely in felt-tip pen - authorities are saying little else about his death, even whether it was a murder, suicide or accident.

Hatcher said census workers have heard little either, although several have been interviewed by police.

...

Sparkman had pending work in Clay County and four other Kentucky counties, Hatcher said, but it was unclear if he died while he was working. Police told census workers that the case for Sparkman's government computer was found, but not his computer.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/12/national/main5377657.shtml

[Mrs. Overall]

1. Why won't they call this homicide yet? His government computer is now missing?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. I don't blame them.

Too much evidence points to the man having been murdered. At least if there's more than one of them working together they'll have a better chance of getting help before the same thing happens to them.

If I were them I think I'd also be requesting Kevlar and bear mace before I'd work that area.

[EFerrari]

6. I took the census when I was 19 or so and remember feeling

a little uneasy at this one big apartment complex. Looking back, anything could have happened to me and it would have been hours before my family knew about it.

Definitely, send people out in teams.

[WriteDown]

7. When I used to deliver pizzas many moons ago..

You would always ring the doorbell and then step to the left. Never knew what was going to come through that door.

[marshall]

18. Remember over 30 years ago when the Mormon missionaries were murdered in rural Texas?

Sometimes the most innocent among us encounter pure evil.

[EFerrari]

20. I missed that. What a shame.

:(

[pattmarty]

8. You can keep the mace, I'll take a sawed off shotgun and a 9mm.

:sarcasm:

[Libertas1776]

3. They should have partners and other

protections, especially if they will be going into high risk areas.

[WriteDown]

4. Far more pizza delivery drivers get killed than census workers...

They need partners first.

[nashville_brook]

11. that's spurious. if this was an anti-gov extremist killing, then it's related to recent trends in

hate crimes and rhetoric rather than generic street crime.

also, you'd have to look at ratios instead of whole numbers, because there's likely way more pizza delivery people out in the public than census canvassers.

[WriteDown]

12. Trends?

One census worker does not equal a trend. I am betting he was killed by someone in a shack with no electricity or running water. They're still out there.

That is likely true, a lot are mugged or killed though do to the fact that they have to carry cash.

[TomCanyon]

5. I don't know what's taking the Kentucky police so long

To figure out what happened to this man and who killed him and why. Could it be that they do not want to embarrass this red state by admitting that one of theirs killed a fed for hatred to our government?

[notesdev]

17. I'm thinking there's a lot more to the story

that hasn't come out yet. For all the speculation, there are precious few details about the deceased and the circumstances of his death.

[maglatinavi]

22. a lot more

like burning in birmingham ... I would recomend the FBI to send a team of agents, not a solitary one ...for protection ...white sheets galore ... how sad ... :hide: :hide: :hide: :yoiks:

[lib_wit_it]

9. Skip those areas. Let people know they can come to the local government office if they want to be

represented in the census.

[EFerrari]

13. Except some people can't or won't do it. They have to work,

they have to care for someone at home or be cared for, they can't afford the bus fare -- the very people who most need the allocation of Federal funds are the people who would have the hardest time doing what you suggest.

[lib_wit_it]

23. Well then let their RW representatives take responsibility for that and start denouncing the anti-

government BS from Bachman and, hmmmmm, in many cases themselves.

[valerief]

10. Damn, these are the people who should be carrying the tasers. nt

[Ian David]

14. Just stop taking the census in the deep-red crazy districts. n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

15. how about emergency buttons like 'life alert' for these people

like an 'on star' but for humans - it isn't like they are requesting a lot and it would be something that could be used for safety workers in emergency situations later on

[mike_c]

16. does no one proofread headlines any longer...?

Sheesh. Tandem graves?

[XemaSab]

19. I was gonna say

"Maybe they should convert to Mormonism." :P

[MountainLaurel]

21. Actually, no

The copyediting staffs at most newspapers have been cut to the bare bones, so they probably have a high school intern who is interested in layout and not editing doing the proofreading.

[crispini]

24. Exactly what I thought. LOL! nt