Bill Sparkman, a part-time Census field worker in Kentucky, was found hanging from a tree in a Clay County cemetery with the words “fed” scrawled across his chest.

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.

Census employees were told Sparkman’s truck was found nearby, and a computer he was using for work was found inside it, she said. He worked part-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice a month.

Video below is from Sept. 15, before details of Sparkman’s death were released…

It’s certainly to early to say whether growing anti-government resentment played a role in this “apparent homicide.” Clay County is part of the fifth district of Kentucky which happens to be one of the poorest in the nation. The region has been led by Republicans for decades, and is currently represented by Harold Rogers (R).

It is curious however that the body was found on Sept 12, 2009, tea party day. And folks like Glenn Beck and Rep. Michelle Bachman are heroes of that movement, aren’t exactly fans of the Census either… as in the clip below: