$24 million lottery ticket found in old shirt

A man finds a $24 million lottery ticket in an old shirt – just in time for the cash in! If he waited two days longer, he’d have lost out on the massive cash prize.

68-year old Jimmie Smith had an old shirt hanging in his closet. However, stuffed in its pockets was a stack of unchecked lottery tickets.

“I always told myself, ‘I’ll check them when I have the time,'” the New Jersey man said

It’s a good thing he did. Because had he waited two days longer, he’d have lost out on $24.1 million.

More than a year ago, Smith bought a ticket to the New York Lotto. The winning numbers for the May 25, 2016 drawing were: 05 – 12 – 13 – 22 – 25 – 35. The New York Gaming Commission knew the winning ticket, worth $24.1 million, was sold at a bodega in New York City — but it didn’t know who bought the ticket. So earlier this year, the New York Lottery tried to find the winner

Winners have a year to claim the lottery prize and that expiration day was quickly approaching.

“We urge New York Lottery players: Check your pockets. Check your glove box. Look under the couch cushions. If you have this winning ticket, we look forward to meeting you,” Gweneth Dean, director of the Commission’s Division of the Lottery, said at the time.

Smith, a retired security officer, caught a news story about the search for the mystery winner. On May 23, 2017, he was inspired him to check his old tickets. He went up to the closet where the old shirt hung. When the numbers matched up, he “stood there for a minute thinking, ‘Do I see what I think I see?'” He’d have been ineligible to collect after May 25, 2017.

“I had to stick my head out the window and breathe in some fresh air,: he said. “I was in serious doubt and had to convince myself this was real.”

“We are thrilled that this lucky winner was able to locate this life-changing ticket,” Dean, of the gaming commission, said. Smith chose to receive his payments over the course of 26 years.

Furthermore, the father of two and grandfather of 12 said he plans to have an “all-family discussion”.

In conclusion…check your pockets, folks!! You might just be our next winner. Play now at Welovetto!

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