BATH COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ)--The Hot Springs community is eager to find out whose body was found on Sunday.
And while the people here hope it's Beacher Hackney, the town is in a state of flux, because no one really knows.
Downtown Hot Springs lies in the shadow of the Homestead, but the the dark shadows in this quaint town haven't been lifted ever since a double-murder three years ago.
Hackney is the man accused of shooting and killing his boss and a co-worker inside the Homestead Resort three and a half years ago.
"It never leaves your mind. Because you don't know where he's at and if he's coming back," Kathryn George, resident, said.
The mere idea that the body discovered in these woods Sunday near the Lower Cascades Golf course could be Hackney wove a common thread down Main Street; one of closure.
"I think it would bring closure to a lot of the people. Not only to the people but to the people who work at the Homestead and their families," said Tommy Ricketts, a resident.
"Im sure that the people here will certainly be glad about it and there will be closure," Ellen Hodge, resident, said.
And while optimism abounds, most people remain cautious.
"It happened quick. Nobody knew what happened to him forever now their coming up with this body and everybody is saying its Hackney but nobody knows just yet," Chase Nicely, resident, said.
Now a community that has waited almost three and a half years to find Beacher Hackney, could just be days away from a big sigh of relief.
