Mail this pageHispanics in state 'beginning to be afraid' after killings

By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER mlindenberger@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal

There is no apparent connection between a tarp-wrapped body found in rural Madison County earlier this year and three bodies also wrapped in tarps found in the Kentucky River near Winchester on Monday, police said yesterday.

Still, the fact that police have described the four victims as appearing to be of Hispanic origin has left some members of the growing Central Kentucky Hispanic population uneasy.

"They are beginning to be afraid," said Sandra Añez Powell, migrant outreach coordinator for the Kentucky River Foothills Development Council, a local community-action agency.

"This is now four people dying in suspicious circumstances."

The three bodies found this week appeared to be Hispanic, according to Clark County Coroner David Jacobs.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Mike Coyle said yesterday that the two incidents appear unrelated. He said police recently have gathered significant information about the January death, but they are not yet able to release details.

The bodies found Monday had been shot multiple times.

Investigators' first priority will be to identify the victims, though both Jacobs and Coyle said that will not be easy.

"It's so early in the investigation," Coyle said. "It's going to be a long process."

A composite-sketch artist will produce portraits of the three men in the next few days, Jacobs said. Coyle said detectives have begun canvassing nearby neighborhoods.

No evidence suggests that the victims were migrant workers, but Coyle said if they were that could make identifying them difficult because of language barriers.

Powell said one concern among Hispanic migrant workers is that too few of them have U.S. identifications, and that can make them feel more vulnerable to violent crime.

"If you were someone who wanted to do something bad to someone, the fact that they are not documented, or have no ID, makes it easier to get away with," she said.

Powell, a native of Venezuela, said 2000 Census numbers reflecting Hispanic populations in Clark and Madison counties at about 1,100 are well below reality.

Based on her experience, she estimates that Madison County has more than 2,000 Hispanic residents, and the more rural Clark County has about 3,000.

For those without IDs, Powell said, day-to-day concerns about opening bank accounts or establishing utility services give way to more important concerns when they hear of events like Monday's discovery.

"Now everyone is wondering who it could be," she said.

On Tuesday police released pictures of some distinctive embroidering found on two of the men's clothing.

Already, Jacobs and Coyle said, callers have phoned to say they recognize the markings or they saw a car driving near the spot where the bodies were found.