BY LARRY O’ROURKE
Staff Writer
WARM SPRINGS – Former Bath County Sheriff Larry Norfleet said he felt a sense of relief when he learned that Beacher Hackney’s remains had been identified.
Norfleet retired at the end of December 2011 after he and his officers spent nearly three and one-half years of his four-year term searching for Hackney.
“It was an open case in my mind,” Norfleet said in a Tuesday afternoon telephone interview. “The final chapter is now closed.”
Norfleet, who worked for many years with Virginia State Police before his term as Bath County sheriff, is now enjoying retirement, but the Hackney case was always in the back of his mind.
“It’s one of those haunts that was left over from a law enforcement career,” he reflected. “Now that door is closed.”
Norfleet attended Tuesday afternoon’s press conference called by Sheriff Robert Plecker to discuss the recent discovery of Hackney’s remains.
“I’m glad it was him,” Norfleet said. “It’s closure for these families; it’s closure for the employees at The Homestead who had to witness this atrocity. It’s closure for the citizens of Bath County who didn’t know if he was alive or dead, where he was or if he would ever come back.”
Norfleet said he was the first officer to arrive on the scene at The Homestead on the evening of the March 21, 2009 murders. He said law enforcement officials searched a four- or five-mile circumference around the hotel, but Hackney eluded their search. His remains were found about seven or eight miles from the resort.
“It was outside of the search grid,” Norfleet said.
In the weeks and months that followed the murders, Norfleet said his office and other law enforcement agencies followed up on tips from California, Ohio and Wisconsin to Jamaica and the Philippines.
“I really thought he was still alive,” Norfleet said.
But the discovery of Hackney’s remains over the Labor Day weekend and subsequent identification have brought closure to the case.
“It’s going to save the taxpayers thousands and thousands of dollars for not having to try a capital case,” Norfleet said.
But in hindsight, Norfleet said that finding Hackney dead left several questions that will remain unanswered.
“I would have liked to have found him alive so I could know why he did what he did,” Norfleet said. “We will never know. I would just like to know his reasoning.”
Nonetheless, Norfleet said he is relieved that the mystery surrounding Hackney’s disappearance has now been solved.
“I’m glad that part of it is done,” he said. “I think a lot of people will rest easier.”
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