What a Mississippi man believed to be a “good Samaritan” turned out to be just the opposite in Eutaw recently.

According to reports from the Eutaw Police Department, Parnea Hearn was driving down Interstate 59/20 two months ago when he had car trouble. Soon after the breakdown, Hearn found what be believed to be a helping hand. Chief Reginald Spencer said while Hearn and his wife were waiting by the side of the road a man offered to help them out.

“He said back during Thanksgiving he and his wife were traveling on the interstate,” Spencer said. “He said someone saw him on the interstate and told him he could fix the vehicle and towed it here.”

Spencer said Hearn and someone he believed to be a mechanic stayed in contact to discuss the condition of the vehicle. He said Hearn sent a steady, but undisclosed amount of money to the man to keep up with the repairs. But, Spencer said, things took an unfortunate turn when Hearn came to check on the vehicle in person.

“Hearn had been sending him money through the mail to repair the vehicle,” Spencer said. “Then he came over here on Jan. 29 to talk to the guy and check on his vehicle and found out the fellow had moved and the vehicle was sitting up on blocks where they had been selling parts off of it.”

Because the case was in its early stages, Spencer said there were still a lot of questions that needed to be answered. As of Monday, there were no suspects, but Spencer said, they plan to continue the investigation.