Michigan Woman Uncovers $1 Million Prize in Stack of Mail
Wednesday September 23rd 2015A Michigan woman has finally stepped forward as one of the $1 million Mega Millions winners from the drawing on Tuesday, May 26th after discovering her winning ticket in a pile of old mail. Linda Tuttle, who lives in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids, was visiting the T&J Party Store in the area when a clerk told her that the store had sold the winning ticket, but that no one had claimed it. With the news fresh in her memory, Linda went home and found an old Mega Millions entry that turned out to be the winner!
She matched the five main numbers of 1, 39, 52, 69 and 72, but not the Mega Ball of 12. Linda kept the ticket hidden in a piece of chocolate candy until she could go to claim the prize. She now plans to visit China to see some of the exchange students she has hosted over the years, and will also invest in a new car and some repairs for her house.
Linda isn’t the only lottery winner to have discovered their good fortune months after the fact. Earlier this year, Anthony Perosi of Staten Island realized he was sitting on a $136 million Powerball jackpot after leaving the ticket pinned to a wall in his basement for six weeks. A friend of Perosi’s had mistakenly told him that a teacher had claimed the huge prize after buying the ticket from the same location where he purchased his own entry. Had he not thought to check that ticket, he would have missed out on a life-changing sum!
While Linda grabbed her windfall well before the one-year deadline for claiming Michigan Lottery prizes, other players haven’t been so lucky, leaving them with an empty space in their bank accounts where their money should be. Playing lottery games online is possible in the Mitten State, which keeps them informed if they’re owed a prize, but not all areas of the U.S. offer this service. If you buy physical tickets, keep them somewhere memorable and secure, and don’t forget to check them after each drawing.
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