A 54-year-old man in the US state of Michigan discovered that he had been carrying a winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million in his wallet for nearly two months without realising it.
Michael Vander Lugt, a resident of Wyoming, Michigan, had purchased the ticket for the August 8 Powerball drawing from Big Top Market. However, he never checked the results and kept the ticket in his wallet alongside several others.
According to a UPI report, Vander Lugt discovered his unexpected fortune after stopping at a convenience store to buy a soft drink. When he realised he did not have enough cash, he decided to redeem a few lottery tickets that he believed had won small prizes.
How did he discover the winning ticket?
"I recently stopped at the party store to get a pop but realized when checking out that I didn't have enough cash on me," Vander Lugt said. "Rather than use my card, I handed the cashier a few Powerball tickets from my wallet that I knew I had won at least a few bucks on."
{{/usCountry}}"I recently stopped at the party store to get a pop but realized when checking out that I didn't have enough cash on me," Vander Lugt said. "Rather than use my card, I handed the cashier a few Powerball tickets from my wallet that I knew I had won at least a few bucks on."
{{/usCountry}}The cashier scanned the tickets and informed him that one had returned a message directing him to file a claim at the lottery office.
Vander Lugt then returned to his car and searched for the winning numbers from the corresponding drawing. He was shocked to discover that his ticket matched all five white balls.
"She scanned each of the tickets and said one came back with a message to file a claim at the lottery office, so I looked up the winning numbers for that drawing when I got in my car. I recognized the numbers as soon as I saw them and started freaking out! I can't believe I had this ticket in my wallet for nearly two months not knowing it was worth $1 million," Vander Lugt said.
What will he do with the winnings?
According to a UPI report, Vander Lugt's ticket matched all five white balls in the August 8 Powerball drawing: 05, 09, 35, 54 and 63.
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He had purchased the winning ticket at Big Top Market in Wyoming, Michigan.
Vander Lugt has since claimed his $1 million prize at the Michigan Lottery headquarters. He plans to use the money to pay off his mortgage and invest the rest.