(WSVN) - Many people reach out to their church when they need help with a problem. But for an Islamorada woman, that simple act of faith left her with a heap of “Unfinished Business.” 7’s Alex de Armas has more.
Living on the ocean is paradise … until a hurricane rolls in.
Linda Dennehy, home damaged: “It was horrific. I mean, all you could do is look at it and kind of cry.”
Hurricane Irma left Linda Dennehy’s home flooded. The storm’s winds damaged her roof and fence.
It was too much for this cancer survivor, who is raising her three adopted granddaughters. So she reached out to her church for help.
Linda Dennehy: “There was a lady at the church that I was very fond of. She had recommended a gentleman who said that he had done work around the church.”
Linda says she didn’t have a lot of money to pay for the repairs, but when Oreste Pardo-Villalbo came out, he proposed a deal.
Linda Dennehy: “He saw my WaveRunners, pontoon boat and my trailer. He said he would do all this work. He wanted to trade, like, kind of barter.”
He wrote out an agreement in Spanish saying he’d clear the debris, paint, fix the fence and do other repairs in exchange for the WaveRunners, trailer and pontoon boat.
Linda Dennehy: “I thought, ‘God, that’s fantastic,’ you know?”
As the weeks went by, Linda says, he would start jobs, but not finish them.
Linda Dennehy: “These were the new panels he never put up. Not one job he was supposed to do, i.e. all of the soffit painting, the pressure washing.”
She says he didn’t do the pressure washing, but he did start pressuring her for the WaveRunner and the boat. She called her friend who recommended him.
Linda Dennehy: “He wants this transferred to his name. He has not completed the work. She said, ‘He’s a good guy, he’ll complete it.'”
So Linda signed the items over. And then she learned he was on probation.
Linda Dennehy: “He said that it was a racist cop, and it was a big misunderstanding.”
But it was more than that. He was sent to prison for battery on a police officer and rescue workers.
Linda Dennehy: “He had to be tased. He was dangerous and violent.”
Pardo-Villalbo stopped showing up at Linda’s house.
She later found out he was arrested again, on DUI charges, in March. Then he disappeared.
Linda Dennehy: “Finally I got fed up, and I filed a police report.”
Pardo-Villalbo is now listed as a fugitive with the Florida Department of Corrections.
Linda says she’s moving on, but she learned a hard lesson.
Linda Dennehy: “Even with somebody who works closely with the church tells you that they’re great and everything like that, don’t be naive. Be very careful who you trust.”
A fair warning so others can avoid unfinished business.
If you have any information about Pardo-Villalbo’s whereabouts, call Monroe County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-346-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
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