Woman finds $1 million lottery ticket in glove box four months after purchase

25 August 2023 , 22:08

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The Alabama woman discovered the $1 million winning ticket in her glove box (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Fortune has smiled down on one woman after she discovered a million-dollar winning lottery ticket in her glove box four months after buying it.

The winning ticket was purchased in Corinth, Mississippi and had been purchased at a Sprint Mart. An appeal for anyone who had bought a ticket to double-check was released at the end of April for the April 3 Powerball drawing after no winner came forward.

Thankfully, the woman from Somerville, Alabama - a tiny town located south of Huntsville and Decatur - went rummaging through her glove box and came across the unclaimed million-dollar lottery ticket. It had been months since the winning numbers had been drawn.

The woman bought the winning ticket in Corinth, Mississippi (Getty Images)

The unidentified woman cashed in the big win on July 19, three-and-a-half months after the numbers had been drawn. The Mississippi Lottery Corporation had warned the ticket expired on September 30, meaning the lucky woman found it in the nick of time.

The April 3 Powerball drawing produced winning numbers of 16, 30, 31, 54 and 68 with a Powerball of 1 and a Power Play of 2. The jackpot was listed as $159.6 million (£126.9 million).

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Nobody in that drawing matched the jackpot, with the lucky Alabama woman having matched all five winning numbers to win the $1 million prize. There have been no winners of the $50,000 prize, or the $100 prize from matching four numbers - though two people did match three numbers with the Powerball to win $100, one with Power Play.

For an additional $1 per play per draw, Power Play multiples the Powerball prize, excluding the jackpot. Non-jackpot prizes can be multiplied by two, three, four, five, or 10 times - though the 10X multiplier is only in play when the advertised jackpot annuity is $150 million or less. The Match 5 prize with Power Play is always $2 million.

The winning numbers were drawn in April 2023, with the woman claiming her winnings in July (AFP via Getty Images)

The odds of winning $1 million on the Powerball is one in 11,688,053.52. The odds of winning the Grand Prize is one in 292,201,338. The overall odds of winning a prize are one in 24.87, with odds presented based on a $2 play.

All prizes must be claimed within 180 calendar days of the draw date. For prizes of $100,000 or more must be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters in Flowood, Mississippi.

Money raised from the Mississippi Lottery goes toward infrastructure and education systems in the state. Net proceeds of up to .$80 million are paid into the State Highway Fund, which will repair, renovate and maintain the highways and bridges in the state.

Any money deposited into the Lottery Proceeds Fund over $80 million dollars each financial year will be transferred into the Education Enhancement Fund. The Mississippi Lottery Corporation was established under the Alyce G Clarke Mississippi Lottery Law, passed during the 2018 extraordinary session of the Mississippi State Legislature.

Fiona Leishman