Mysterious death puts Clay Co. in media spotlight

By Tara Kaprowy

Since news broke that Bill Sparkman’s lifeless body was found in Clay County with the word “fed” written on his chest, the mystery surrounding his death has triggered nationwide media attention. And while reporters have circled the area and stories and blogs have surfaced, the reputation of Clay County has taken the brunt of the scrutiny.

“It’s been really surreal because we just have this big burst of national coverage on this horrible thing that happened,” said Morgan Bowling, news reporter for The Manchester Enterprise.

Bowling said many of the news stories and blogs have painted Clay County as a backwoods area known for its meth labs, marijuana fields and anti-government sentiment.

“We had a reporter who came from Washington, D.C., Robert Stacy McCain,” she said. “He was surprised. From what he’d read of the case, he was surprised to see civilization because of pictures the media had painted of us.”

Those pictures have even prompted people from all over the country to send hate mail to The Manchester Enterprise. One letter was particularly disparaging: “Are you a bunch of uneducated, ignorant, toothless, dirty scumbags? What (expletive) century are the residents of Clay County living in? Do you realize what this crime makes you people look like? Good God! What kind of people are you? This is a story one would expect would come out of Iraq or Afghanistan!”

While the letter was especially vehement in nature, Bowling said judgments like it have been handed down from across the country.

“I guess people are only going to see what they want to see,” she said.

Bowling, who was born in the area, disagrees with the claim that anti-government sentiment is common in Clay County.

“I would say they’re just as patriotic here, if not more,” she said. “Every time we turn around we have a new veterans memorial or something going up. I wouldn’t say we have anti-government sentiment.”

Resident Chloe Arnett agreed.

“We’re patriotic Americans,” she said.

As for the area in which Sparkman’s body was found — in a clearing in Arnett’s Fork, a subset of the Redbird community — Bowling said it’s known as rural and remote, but very beautiful.

“Redbird’s pretty awesome as far as scenery, it’s very mountainous and serene,” she said. “A mile or two down the road is the Redbird Ranger District and there’s plenty of places to go hiking and camping down there.”

Because of the ranger district, Bowling said the area is well patrolled.

“About two years ago, I worked for the local senior citizens and delivered meals in that area,” she said. “I was out there every day, five days a week. And there were rangers patrolling the area.”

Bowling did say there were very few homes in Arnett’s Fork and no homes next to Hoskin’s Cemetery.

The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed last week Sparkman died while he was tied to a tree in a clearing off Arnett’s Fork. His cause of death was asphyxiation. The Kentucky State Police reported last week they “will come to a resolution sooner rather than later,” Trooper 1st Class Don Trosper said.

“The investigators have accomplished most of what they needed to,” Trosper said. “The thing is, in investigations, you follow the evidence where it leads you. Evidence can usually rule out or help determine the course of the investigation. In this particular case, it’s very complex.”

Staff writer Tara Kaprowy can be reached by e-mail at tkaprowy@sentinel-echo.com.

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