With about four hours to spare, a Detroit father of two showed up at the Michigan Lottery offices to claim a $1.5 million prize from the Jan. 8, 2005, Winfall game.
The winning ticket was sold the day of the drawing at a Meijer store in Roseville. It would have expired at the end of the business day Monday, with the money reverting to the state's public education fund.
The man, who was not identified, told lottery officials that he put the ticket in a jacket pocket and forgot about it. He said he found it Jan. 2 and after hearing news of the unclaimed prize, checked the number and realized he had a winner.
He and his wife, both hospital workers, decided to take a one-time payment of $807,053 before taxes, rather than annual pretax payments of $50,000 for 30 years. After taxes, their check was for $573,815.
"They were very excited," Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters told The Detroit News. "We are so pleased that they claimed their prize in time and hope they enjoy their winnings."
The couple told lottery officials that they planned to use part of their winnings to pay for the education of their sons, one in college and the other in high school.
Two tickets matched all six numbers in the Jan. 8, 2005, Winfall drawing to win $1.5 million each. The winning numbers were four, five, seven, 10, 21 and 23.
The Michigan Lottery says that holders of tickets worth $17.6 million failed to collect last year. Since the lottery began in 1973, unclaimed prizes total $456 million.
The unclaimed prize money, like all lottery profits, is sent to the state's school aid fund. In 2005, the lottery sold $2.1 billion in tickets, gave $1.2 billion in prizes and paid $668 million into K-12 education.
I can assure you that this would never happen to me. I check all my ticket (both personal and my pools) on an almost daily basis. I can't imagine holding on to a winning ticket for that long, nor NOT knowing that I won!
I can assure you that this would never happen to me. I check all my ticket (both personal and my pools) on an almost daily basis. I can't imagine holding on to a winning ticket for that long, nor NOT knowing that I won!
Michael
I couldn't agree with you more. This subject has been discussed many times. Just a few weeks ago there was a thread on this board regarding a couple in CO who claimed a ticket at around 11pm on the final day because they heard about it on the evening news. Obviously many people who play don't take the lottery seriously and buy tickets on a whim figuring they'll never hit. I never put them in a pocket or my glove compartment. When I get home they get placed on my desk next to my computer and I check the lottery site after the drawing.
I check my tickets the next day in the morning on the computer and in the newspaper as soon as I wake up, I don't wait too long before looking at them.
I can assure you that this would never happen to me. I check all my ticket (both personal and my pools) on an almost daily basis. I can't imagine holding on to a winning ticket for that long, nor NOT knowing that I won!
Michael
I can assure you that this would never happen to me. I check all my ticket (both personal and my pools) on an almost daily basis. I can't imagine holding on to a winning ticket for that long, nor NOT knowing that I won!
Michael
I couldn't agree with you more. This subject has been discussed many times. Just a few weeks ago there was a thread on this board regarding a couple in CO who claimed a ticket at around 11pm on the final day because they heard about it on the evening news. Obviously many people who play don't take the lottery seriously and buy tickets on a whim figuring they'll never hit. I never put them in a pocket or my glove compartment. When I get home they get placed on my desk next to my computer and I check the lottery site after the drawing.
I agree as well.
If I have a ticket, the longest I wait to check it will be mid morning the day after the drawing, but that's just me....
I check my tickets the next day in the morning on the computer and in the newspaper as soon as I wake up, I don't wait too long before looking at them.