5 lottery near-misses where big prizes were almost lost forever

UPI

27-06-2025

June 27 (UPI) -- Lottery players buy their tickets dreaming of the big one, but sometimes even tickets that earn big prizes can end up lost, forgotten or even thrown in the trash.
Here are five times winning lottery tickets with major prizes nearly failed to find their way to a claims center.
In a file container
A Calvert County, Md., man bought a six-board ticket for the July 12, 2024, Bonus Match 5 drawing, but when he thought to check whether it was a winner, he discovered the ticket was nowhere to be found.
He ended up locating the ticket in a file container months later, and discovered one of his lines had scored a $500,000 prize, and another had netted him an additional $400. He was able to claim his prize with just days to spare before it would have expired.
In the car
Another ticket that went missing for several months was an August 2024 Powerball ticket purchased by a Jonesboro, Ark., woman named Tracy H. The player told lottery officials the ticket went missing before she could even check if it was a winner.
Tracy ended up finding the ticket in her vehicle in February, and was able to claim a $100,000 prize shortly before the 180-day expiration period.
The ticket hoarder
A Prince George's County, Md., man claimed a $50,000 Pick 5 prize with less than a week to spare before it expired, but he said the ticket hadn't been forgotten or misplaced, sharing how: "I just wanted to hold on to it. But, I'll tell you I sure was excited about it."
The win even came as a surprise to the player's wife, who wasn't told of her husband's luck until the day before he claimed his prize in February.
Under the furniture
A Nottingham, Md., man told Maryland Lottery officials he was helping his mother move furniture at her house when he discovered a stack of scratch-off tickets that she had intended to give as stocking stuffers months earlier.
The man's mother told him to go ahead and take the tickets home, with the understanding that they would split any winners. The duo ended up sharing a $50,000 prize from a $5 Holiday Luck Doubler ticket -- as well as smaller prizes of $6 and $15.
In the trash
Shepherdsville resident Pamela Howard-Thorton told Kentucky Lottery officials she bought four $5 Flamingo Bingo scratch-off tickets, but found after tossing out three non-winners that her fourth ticket was missing.
"I looked in the trash and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I threw it away,'" she said, adding that the ticket rescued from the garbage can turned out to be an $80,000 winner.