Mysterious Census Worker Death

A U.S. Census field worker was found hanged—with the word "Fed" scrawled across his chest—in a cemetery in Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest. The body of Bill Sparkman, 51, a single father who worked for the Census Bureau part time, was found September 12, though the details of his death were not widely reported until Wednesday. The FBI said it is investigating the case, while the Census has suspended door-to-door operations in Kentucky’s rural Clay County while law enforcement figures out whether his death was the result of foul play—and whether his Census work was part of it. The mysterious death comes as a slew of conspiracy theories involving the Census have made their way into the mainstream, including one U.S. congresswoman announcing she would boycott the Census to protect herself from invasive government questions, even though refusing to answer the Census is illegal.