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Woman claims $250,000 just hours before lottery ticket expires
Mega Millions: Woman claims $250,000 just hours before lottery ticket expires
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For nearly six months, Lydia Burke of Mechanicsville, Virginia, had a Mega Millions ticket worth $250,000 and she didn't know it. The ticket sat in a napkin holder in her kitchen.
Then on September 23, she happened to see a news report that a Mega Millions ticket purchased at the 7-Eleven located at 2413 Staples Mill Road in Richmond was about to expire. She remembered buying a ticket at that store, so she checked the ticket in her napkin holder.
"Oh my goodness, when I saw that ticket and saw those numbers, I screamed, 'I got it! I got it!'" she later said.
Ms. Burke and her husband Gregory presented the ticket to Virginia Lottery officials at 9:00 a.m. on September 24 — just eight hours before the ticket would have expired.
According to Virginia Lottery rules, winning tickets expire 180 days after the drawing. Her ticket was for the March 27, 2009, Mega Millions drawing. It matched the first five numbers and only missed the Mega Ball number to win Mega Millions' second prize of $250,000. The winning numbers for that drawing were 10-15-24-38-50 and the Mega Ball number was 19. The ticket was set to expire at 5:00 p.m. on September 24.
Ms. Burke told Lottery officials she and her husband plan to use their winnings to take their first vacation in years.
Thanks to Truesee for the tip.
Lottery Post Staff
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21 comments. Last comment 4 months ago by .
Deep in the Woods of Texas United States Member #68953 December 22, 2008 328 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 26, 2009, 11:24 am - IP Logged |
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what's the deal with people not checking there tickets after the drawing? this seems far from the norm to me. i check within 24-48 hours and then trash those losers. anyway, my nickel advice. "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it"
by: Henry David Thoreau
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United States Member #52818 May 21, 2007 424 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 26, 2009, 11:29 am - IP Logged |
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what's the deal with people not checking there tickets after the drawing? this seems far from the norm to me. i check within 24-48 hours and then trash those losers. anyway, my nickel advice. I normally check mine the next morning .......
personally I'd  if some one had a $250k winner and missed the deadline
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Idaho United States Member #56982 November 21, 2007 3398 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 26, 2009, 3:24 pm - IP Logged |
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Well, she was lucky she saw that news report. Otherwise, she would have been out a lot of money. Congrats to her! "No one remembers the person who almost climbed the mountain, only the person who eventually gets to the top."
ThatScaryChick
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mid-Ohio United States Member #9 March 24, 2001 10823 Posts Online |
| Posted: September 26, 2009, 3:54 pm - IP Logged |
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Lydia Burke must have a good memory. She buys a lottery ticket, doesn't bother to check it and put it aside and forget about it but on seeing the news report about a MegaMillions ticket worth $250K sold at a certain 7-11 store almost 180 days earlier, she remembers buying a ticket at that store about that time and putting it in a napkin holder and it's then she decides to check it. What are the odds that most players would remember where they bought a ticket six months earlier let alone where they placed it? Congratulation to the winner. * What happens most *
* will most likely happen again *
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Kentucky United States Member #60530 April 3, 2008 902 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 26, 2009, 7:14 pm - IP Logged |
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she needs to improve that memory.........by tying a string on her finger.......to remind her to check her next ticket she buys.............it might be a winner!!!!!!!(does she put all her tickets in a napkin holder.....there might be other winners there......) does that mean it's been almost 6 months since she cleaned off her table??????? " I don't have a gambling problem, I have a problem winning!"
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Indiana United States Member #80007 September 2, 2009 40 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 26, 2009, 10:19 pm - IP Logged |
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she needs to improve that memory.........by tying a string on her finger.......to remind her to check her next ticket she buys.............it might be a winner!!!!!!!(does she put all her tickets in a napkin holder.....there might be other winners there......) does that mean it's been almost 6 months since she cleaned off her table??????? Thats what I was thinking. How filthy was her napkin holder and the NAPKINS in it, yuck.
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Santa Ana United States Member #71664 February 20, 2009 304 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 12:01 am - IP Logged |
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I can't understand why the negative, petty comments about her cleaning habits on how and where she stored her ticket. If she had stored the winning ticket in the bathroom, it is no one's business but her own. We all choose different places to keep our tickets; The bottom line is she found the winning ticket in time to collect it and that is a blessing in itself.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS WINNER AND HER FAMILY--I HOPE SHE ENJOYS HER WELL DESERVED VACATION
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Hamilton, OH United States Member #4236 March 27, 2004 176 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 12:19 am - IP Logged |
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I can't understand why the negative, petty comments about her cleaning habits on how and where she stored her ticket. If she had stored the winning ticket in the bathroom, it is no one's business but her own. We all choose different places to keep our tickets; The bottom line is she found the winning ticket in time to collect it and that is a blessing in itself.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS WINNER AND HER FAMILY--I HOPE SHE ENJOYS HER WELL DESERVED VACATION  I think there may be a jealousy factor. I'm just glad she found it. It's hard enough to win. Let's not make it impossible to collect too. Congrats on the win.
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United States Member #72957 March 18, 2009 65 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 12:58 am - IP Logged |
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Yea, another encouraging story! I'm given hope again. I have my lottery ticket, am grateful, and am ready to claim my sole-jackpot-win at the lottery headquarters ... which will provide me with rapid financial independance!
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Downhere, S.C. United States Member #35432 March 11, 2006 1841 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 4:00 am - IP Logged |
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she needs to improve that memory.........by tying a string on her finger.......to remind her to check her next ticket she buys.............it might be a winner!!!!!!!(does she put all her tickets in a napkin holder.....there might be other winners there......) does that mean it's been almost 6 months since she cleaned off her table??????? They must be pretty clean eaters, they don't use alot of napkins.   Please Pray For Our Troops And Their Families.
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New Member  Illinois United States Member #80904 September 25, 2009 30 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 4:16 am - IP Logged |
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I think there may be a jealousy factor. I'm just glad she found it. It's hard enough to win. Let's not make it impossible to collect too. Congrats on the win. i feel happy she found it last minute. but seriously, even if it's 1 minute late, you think the lottery is going to deny her the money? Lots of money hanging on a potential difference of mere minutes, whether clock strikes past midnight or not
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Center of New York State United States Member #55518 September 8, 2007 2601 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 8:29 am - IP Logged |
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I just found a $2.00 mega ball winner from 8/14 which was in a pile of Mega #s (jackpost was $146mil) which my girlfriend had sitting off in a corner of the kitchen Money won is twice as good as money earned!
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Gurnee, Illinois United States Member #50189 February 12, 2007 351 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 4:56 pm - IP Logged |
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Congrats to her...yes I agree with checking sooner, but some people do lead busy lives that prevent them from checking each ticket right after each drawing. I worked as an over-the-road driver for the past few years and I could not check my tickets every week (I happened to be a driver who made good money). I made sure to purchase tickets for EVERY MM and PB drawing even though I also spent upwards of a month out of the country. Now I will be leaving the US for a year to go serve the country, so I am grateful that Illinois now has Mega Millions subscriptions. I will just have to have my brother purchase and track my Powerball tickets as it would do me no good to purchase a ticket that turns out to be a winner as I wouldn't be able to claim it within the 180 day timeframe (yeah, if it was a jackpot winner, I would probably be allowed to return to the US to claim it, but if we're talking about a second tier winner, I couldn't see leaving theater to claim it even though it is a nice sum of money).
So I will hope to win before I go (even if I were to win a jackpot MM/PB drawing, I would still go over and serve my time in XXXX middle eastern country). And then I will enjoy my winnings when I return stateside. If only I could be so blessed! Forget the formulas...you only win when you're lucky! I'm one lucky mofo...NOW give me MONEY!
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Massachusetts United States Member #37842 April 14, 2006 142 Posts Offline |
| Posted: September 27, 2009, 5:50 pm - IP Logged |
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I can totally relate to her system of buying tickets and never checking them. After losing so many times I just buy them and keep them on top of the tv. Then after a while I will bring them all to the store to self scan and trash them (I never find winners! ).
I also want to say something about the Virginia lottery. Thats one honest lottery commission that they will advertise of an unclaimed ticket. I have yet to see that kind of honesty around where I come from.
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