Mystery man buys $540 worth of Girl Scout cookies so girls can 'get out of this cold'

Kristine Solomon
Internet sleuths are trying to identify an anonymous Good Samaritan who bought $540 of Girl Scout cookies so the girls could get out of the cold. (Photo: Kayla Dillard via Facebook)
Internet sleuths are trying to identify an anonymous Good Samaritan who bought $540 of Girl Scout cookies so the girls could get out of the cold. (Photo: Kayla Dillard via Facebook)

Editor’s note: Yahoo Lifestyle reported on Thursday that the man hailed here as a hero for buying $540 worth of Girl Scout cookies has been arrested on drug trafficking charges after a months-long federal investigation. He has been identified by police as Detric McGowan.

A man in South Carolina plunked down $540 to buy out a troop’s entire stock of Girl Scout cookies so the girls could close up shop and escape the cold weather. The Scouts were stationed outside a Bilo grocery store in Mauldin, S.C.

Kayla Dillard, who manages cookie sales for Troop 1574 — the group her daughter belongs to — said in a Facebook post on Friday that the customer first arrived and bought seven boxes of Girl Scout cookies for $40 and told them to keep the change. But she told Yahoo Lifestyle “we were all in total shock” when the man returned with a new offer.

The man said, “Pack up all of your cookies. I’m taking them all so y’all can get out of this cold,” and he proceeded to buy up every last box, including Thanks-A-Lots, Caramel deLites, Shortbread, Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, S’mores, Thin Mints and Lemonades.

“The girls were almost speechless,” Dillard told Yahoo Lifestyle. “Then they got busy trying to calculate his total.”

The final amount the man spent was $540.

“We were just thankful,” she added — but unfortunately she doesn’t know who to thank, because she never got the man’s name and he still hasn’t come forward. “He mentioned he owned several businesses,” Dillard said. “We assume he was going to give the cookies away.”

Now that Dillard’s post has gone viral, internet sleuths are hard at work trying to identify the Good Samaritan. Dillard said the man has been tagged in the post several times by people who think they know him, but his identity remains a mystery.

Others were impressed by his extraordinary kindness.

“Wow, what a great big heart he has!! Kudos to him for doing such a wonderful thing! That is something they will remember for the rest of their lives!” one person wrote.

“This generous man probably shared the cookies with nursing homes, his employees/coworkers, homeless shelters and friends,” another speculated. “He seems to be a great person with a big heart.”

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