by Jason Lamb - Channel 5 News - SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. –

A convenience store clerk in Shelbyville has a bizarre story to tell after a man walked into the market and dropped off a red Gibson special edition guitar... He asked the clerk to keep it, and all he wanted in return was a soft drink.

It happened at the T and M Market on Depot Street on Saturday.

Neither Shelbyville police nor the clerk seem to know why the man left the guitar, especially because police said it's not reported stolen.

The man told the clerk, Della Jernigan, that he was homeless and needed money for the guitar for a place to stay.

After Jernigan told the man she didn't want the guitar, she said he asked if he could leave the guitar there. The clerk agreed, and then she said the man asked for a soda.

The clerk gave the man that soda for free -- it's normal price is $1.48. However, the price of the Gibson special edition guitar he left behind is estimated to be at least $300.00.

"In 38 years, I've seen some strange things, but I've never seen anything like this," said Maurice Williams, the market owner.

The clerk said she never saw the man in the store before, and after leaving, he put his backpack in the back of a car driven by a woman. They both left, and they haven't been seen since.

Police are currently holding onto the guitar.

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