Ryan Cormier | The News Journal

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Lewes' Cindy Ruggerio was getting her hair cut Thursday when a curious text appeared on her phone.

The owner of Dewey Beach's The Surf Shanty looked down and saw a photo of her restored 1972 GMC Jimmy. It was sent by a friend asking her if it was her truck.

It was.

And as it turns out, actor and Delaware native Ryan Phillippe is the one who took the photo, posting it to social media with a plea to find the owner.

As he was leaving Delaware's beaches Thursday following a two-week Bethany Beach vacation, he hopped on Instagram and fired off a post.

"Whoever's car this is I saw this morn, I will buy it from you if you see this & they are selling. DM me!," wrote the 43-year-old star of USA's "Shooter."

As it turns out, Ruggerio's husband Rhett had dropped it off at the Meineke Car Care Center on Del. 1 near Lewes for an annual checkup and that's where Phillippe spied their ride.

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Once Ruggerio got over the fact that the actor she remembers watching years ago on the soap opera "One Life To Live" wanted her truck, she went onto Instagram and sent him a private message about his offer.

As of Friday afternoon, she had not yet heard back from the Hollywood heartthrob.

Jerod Harris/Getty Images

With a rich and famous actor wanting her Jimmy, Ruggerio just might be in the driver's seat, joking that she'd part with it for "a small half a million dollars."

In fact, she says she would totally be willing to part with it.

"As a businesswoman, I figured if he wants to buy it, I'll sell it," she says of the orange truck, which matches the color of her business. "My father-in-law once told me, 'When anybody asks if something is for sale, you say yes, for the right price.'"

Since Phillippe is a New Castle native, he apparently has plenty of Delaware followers because Ruggerio has been swimming in texts from friends ever since.

"It's pretty funny. It caused quite a stir," Ruggerio says of the hoopla around her truck, which she purchased two years ago from Aaron Dunphy of LowDigitTags.com, who had restored it. "What an interesting couple of days."

Now, it's just a waiting game. And while she waits, so do her friends, who keep checking in for any updates.

"I'm like, 'Oh, I'm meeting him right now for a drink at The Starboard — we're going to work it out,'" she jokes.

Phillippe's Instagram page doubles as his Bethany Beach vacation photo gallery, featuring several snapshots and videos from his annual beach stay with family.

News Journal file

There he is shirtless on the beach making sandcastles in one pic and paddleboarding with a mug of coffee in another. Another image shows him taking in a stunning purple and pink Bethany sunset with his 14-year-old son, Deacon, who has his arms around his father.

Phillippe, who has starred in such films as "Cruel Intentions," "Crash" and "MacGruber," wasn't in Delaware for every second of his First State foray.

He also posted photos of himself, his father, Richard, and Deacon at the Philadelphia Eagles' training center in Philadelphia where three generations of Phillippe Eagles fans were able to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy for a few photos.

"Shooter," which kicked off its third season last month, airs Thursdays at 10 p.m.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).