HERTFORD, N.C. (WAVY) — There are balloons saying “love” where the body of 61-year-old Cecil Beasley was found on West Grubb Street just outside Hertford in Perquimans County.

Beasley was struck sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning following a hit-and-run, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, who said he was hit sometime between 9 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday in the area of West Grubb Street and Don Juan Road.

Police said his body was found on the side of the road just after 6 a.m. Monday.

Amanda Parker, who lives in the house closest to the spot where Beasley died, said she hopes someone will have the answers to what happened to him.

“Why did I do this interview? Because there was a guy found down the road and it was horrible,” Parker said. “If I can help get the word out about the story, somebody might know something and will come forward.”

Here’s what we know.

A passerby saw Beasley Sunday night at 9 p.m. walking in the general area where the balloons are.

Then, at 11 p.m., the same driver saw no one out there.

Then, at about 6:16 a.m. Monday, that same driver drove by and found Beasley’s body in the ditch, and that driver called the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

That timeline was also given to 10 On Your Side by NCHP.

“I can’t even imagine if he was down there alive and they didn’t know about it,” Parker said. “It was horrible.”

What was Beasley like?

“He was a nice man,” Parker said. “He went about his business and would wave as he rode his bike down the road. I’ve seen him in other spots and businesses around town.”

Said neighbor Antwan Leary: “I hope he gets justice for what happened to him.”

Beasley would stop by A & L Garage frequently, usually to get air in the bike.

“He was a good customer,” said A & L Garage co-owner Amy Augustine, “and he didn’t always come in and have work done. He would stop in to just say hi. If you go downtown, that’s how people knew him, friendly.”

Mistakes happen, but what Augustine can’t believe is that someone would strike Beasley and then drive off.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “To know somebody hit him, didn’t stop, even if you thought you hit an animal, people will stop and see what happened.”

Said Larry Augustine: ‘He rode bicycles all the time, and he would come up to get air in his tire. He was a nice guy. I’m sorry another human being hit someone like that to take off leaving him lying in a ditch.”

The NCHP said the charge would include felony hit-and-run.

Beasley could be found sometimes in Hertford hanging around Jesse Byrum at a fruit stand in town.

“He would come by here riding his bicycle,” Byrum said, “and sometimes he would walk or ride and he helped people in town.”

The North Carolina Highway Patrol said Beasley was on foot when he got hit. Byrum looks at it this way, and a number of people around Hertford agreed.

“Someone hit, and ran, and kept on going,” Byrum said. “He may still have been alive, and if they had stopped, maybe they could have saved his life.

Eddie Gurganus once drove a taxi, and Beasley was a regular customer.

“Cecil was a good guy,” Gurganus said. “He kept to himself, and was a quiet person never really heard much out of him.”

What did Beasley talk about on those miles together?

“He didn’t talk about much except about home, children,” Gurganus said, “but [he] was a really a really quiet guy.”

Anyone who knows anything about this is urged to call the North Carolina Highway Patrol.