Va. woman claims lottery prize 4 hours before ticket due to expire

Oct 30, 2013, 8:18 am (16 comments)

Virginia Lottery

Almost lost $100,000 prize

Four hours before her winning $100,000 lottery ticket was to expire, Karen Gentry of Alexandria showed up at a Virginia lottery center on Tuesday to claim her prize.

The winning numbers (6, 15, 18, 23, and 32) were announced May 2, and by Virginia law the prize money was set to expire at 5 p.m. Tuesday — 180 days after the drawing.

But Gentry hadn't checked her ticket.

She said she stashed it in a box in her kitchen after she bought it and hadn't thought about it until she heard news reports Tuesday that Virginia lottery officials were looking for the winner of the unclaimed prize as the 5 p.m. deadline drew near.

"So I looked, and there it was," Gentry told Virginia lottery officials, according to a news release issued by the agency. "I called my husband and he said, 'Yeah, right.'"

Gentry bought the ticket at a 7-11 convenience store in the 5800 block of North King Highway in Alexandria. She told lottery officials that she let the computer randomly select her numbers. She then put her ticket in the box.

"I always check the numbers, so I'm amazed I missed it," she said. Gentry said she works in carpet sales and had no immediate plans for her winnings. She showed up at a lottery customer service center in Woodbridge shortly before 1 p.m. to claim the money.

Virginia lottery officials said there has been more than $234 million in unclaimed prize money since 1988. The unclaimed money goes to Virginia's Literary Fund, which pays for technology upgrades in schools and teacher retirement funds.

Washington Post

Comments

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Lucky lady. Just in time. Congrats.

sully16's avatarsully16

Nice story, glad she found it.

noise-gate

Gentry almost lost out on a QP bonanza.
Rule of thumb: Never and l mean never discount a QP lottery ticket many a jackpot has been won with those. Glad she found hers.
..now where did l stash mine?

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

That's what you call cutting it closeBig Grin....congratulation Mrs. GentryThumbs Up

NearNewBrit

Quote: Originally posted by dallascowboyfan on Oct 30, 2013

That's what you call cutting it closeBig Grin....congratulation Mrs. GentryThumbs Up

John Wayne Bobbitt would tell you different!  Banana

TNPATL

She's very lucky she found the ticket.  Congrats on her winning.  Hope she puts the funds to good use.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

  LOL  Heh,heh,heh,heh,heh... Bless her heart... She's lyin'...

I should really get to work on my story in case I win.

It's gonna be a doozy!  Thumbs Up

1977's avatar1977

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 30, 2013

  LOL  Heh,heh,heh,heh,heh... Bless her heart... She's lyin'...

I should really get to work on my story in case I win.

It's gonna be a doozy!  Thumbs Up

I am holding on to my winning tickect just to see how   long I Winkcan!!!!For real! that's my story  and I am sticking 2 it LOL!!!!!

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 30, 2013

  LOL  Heh,heh,heh,heh,heh... Bless her heart... She's lyin'...

I should really get to work on my story in case I win.

It's gonna be a doozy!  Thumbs Up

You're probably right, she didn't think winning $100,000 was luck enough she had make it seem she was even more lucky to discover she had won.

duckman's avatarduckman

Old Chinese Proverb: "If you buy a ticket, check the ticket after the drawing as soon as possible."

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Obviously she had never heard the story of Clarence Jackson Jr. who was 3 days late in turning in a ticket worth $5.8M back in 1996. He never got a penny. CT lottery refused to break the rules for him, as it should be. 

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 30, 2013

  LOL  Heh,heh,heh,heh,heh... Bless her heart... She's lyin'...

I should really get to work on my story in case I win.

It's gonna be a doozy!  Thumbs Up

Her story sounds fake, but the one l can't get over is the winning ticket being used as a " Christmas ornament on the tree"..until being discovered that it's worth something.
Give me a break.

helpmewin's avatarhelpmewin

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Oct 31, 2013

Her story sounds fake, but the one l can't get over is the winning ticket being used as a " Christmas ornament on the tree"..until being discovered that it's worth something.
Give me a break.

Somethings are just unbelievable but true Yes Nod

pickone4me's avatarpickone4me

So the trick to winning is stash the lotto ticket and forget about it!  Or #2 live in communist california.

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