Clint Disken
HUSTONVILLE — Officials have identified the body found Friday in a Lincoln County barn as Clint Disken, a man who was last seen in early March with the suspect in a Danville double homicide.
Lincoln County Coroner Farris Marcum said today he has identified the remains as Disken, 31, based primarily on his known tattoos. The state Medical Examiners Office in Frankfort is trying to determine the cause of death.
Disken had been living in a trailer home at 55 Fairlane Ave. in Hustonville with Thomas Hager Jr. until he was last seen on March 3. Disken's mother, Patricia Devine, said she last saw her son when he and Hager came to her Harrodsburg home on their way to a Frankfort restaurant.
Hager, 39, of Danville, is charged with killing Mark Snyder, 21, of Waynesburg and Ted Sparks, 54, of Danville and attempting to kill Phillip White, 37, of Lancaster on May 21 at Sparks’ residence at 477 High St.
Devine reported Disken missing after hearing the news about Hager’s arrest.
Authorities located remains Friday in the cellar of a barn behind the trailer on Fairlane Avenue after police got a tip from the property owner.
The property owners notified police Friday about an odor coming from the building after they had seen news reports about Disken going missing. One of the owners, Serenna Sizemore, who is Hager’s former mother-in-law, said she had mowed around the barn a number of times and thought the smell was from a dead animal.
Hager was married to Sizemore’s daughter, Crystal Hager, who died of an apparent accidental prescription drug overdose in January. Sizemore said the couple had been married for eight years but had been together for close to 11 years.
Sizemore said Hager, who had moved to the area from Frankfort, had never shown any signs of being violent. In the months that followed Crystal Hager’s death, Sizemore said she had seen Disken a number of times and was aware he was staying with Hager, but said she had not gotten to know him. She told Hager earlier this year she was planning on selling the trailer and he needed to find another place to live.
Hager apparently left the trailer March 9. He moved into a duplex at the Village Apartments off Stanford Road in Danville, where police arrested him May 21 for the shootings.
Devine, who could not be reached for comment by press time today, said last week her son moved many times over the last few years, usually staying with friends. She said she had not been very familiar with Hager, who contacted her two days after the March 3 drop-in at her home to say her son had cleared his things from the trailer and left in the middle of the night.
Devine said she adopted Disken, who attended Burgin High School, when he was 5 years old from a Florida woman. She said Disken had recently met his birth mother, who according to Marcum has been sought out for a DNA sample.
Marcum said it could take a couple weeks before it is certain what happened to Disken because of the condition of the body.
“We have to determine the cause of death before we can determine whether the investigation will continue as a death investigation or as a homicide investigation,” said Trooper Paul Blanton. “If (Disken’s) death is not of natural causes, we will go from there.”
Hager remains in the Boyle County Detention Center without bond. Witnesses reported seeing someone dressed in what appeared to be a jail inmate uniform at 55 Fairlane Ave. on Friday. Blanton did not comment today on reports Hager was at the scene or whether he has confessed or made any statements that helped lead authorities to the body. Hager has not been charged with any crime related to Disken’s death.
