Georgia man finds $1M lottery ticket while cleaning his room

Mar 2, 2014, 2:37 pm (21 comments)

Powerball

By Todd Northrop

A Georgia man was tidying his room and came across a month-old lottery ticket that was gathering dust — and turned out to be worth $1 million.

Gregory Jarrett, 26, of the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, had matched five numbers in the Powerball drawing of Jan. 15, but had apparently forgotten about it.

After he checked the numbers, "I called for my mom, and I walked toward her, shaking," he said in a statement released by the Georgia Lottery. "She verified it, and at that point we hugged."

Jarrett claimed the prize last week. Georgia Lottery officials said Friday that they hadn't been able to reach him since then.

Jarrett said in the statement that he picked the numbers — 7, 8, 9, 24 and 29 — based on his siblings' birthdays. He said he plans to use the money to pay bills.

Under Georgia lottery rules, he had six months to claim the prize.

Madison couple claims another $1M Powerball prize in Georgia

A Madison, Georgia, couple is also celebrating a $1 million Powerball prize from the Georgia Lottery.

Robert and Dana Fisher matched the first five numbers from the Feb. 15 Powerball drawing, winning a $1 million prize.

Short Stop, 228 N. Broad St. in Winder, sold the winning Quik Pik ticket.

Winning numbers from the Feb. 15 Powerball drawing were: 2, 9, 14, 21, and 23, with Powerball number 3.

Robert, an electrician; and Dana, a secretary, discovered their good fortune the following day during a trip to a fast food restaurant.

"We're excited, but we want to be prepared," said Robert Fisher, 44.

With two children, the Fishers intend to pay off bills, make home renovations and work on their retirement.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Decator, GA must be bigger than most communities named Decator or else everyone in Decator would have been checking their tickets immediately after hearing a million dollars PB winner was sold locally.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Hmmm.....maybe a good reason to clean your house or apartment, or even trailer "house" or room daily, besides the obvious. Congrats!!!.

lottoguysocal's avatarlottoguysocal

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Mar 2, 2014

Decator, GA must be bigger than most communities named Decator or else everyone in Decator would have been checking their tickets immediately after hearing a million dollars PB winner was sold locally.

Decatur, is a decent sized area of GA located in Dekalb County.  Congrats to the lucky winner!

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Kudo to both winners and a pretty good reminder to check the tickets as soon as reasonably possible  Hyper

Artist77's avatarArtist77

Congrats!!! Wasn't there a similar story several years ago...some guy found a ticket while cleaning his room?

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

These stories give players some hope. One ticket was self selected numbers and one was a QP . I wish they both had power played their tickets.

noise-gate

"Winning ticket collecting dust"..Glad it was discovered in time.

Party

RedStang's avatarRedStang

I have a feeling Gregs mom is going to raise his rent.

mikeintexas's avatarmikeintexas

I'd clean my room, but I've misplaced my scoop shovel.

Shelby Mustang

Dont believe i'd told that story, I'd rather said I'd left it in a jacket I rarely wear, rather than admit I was a bum who left trash around long enough to get dust on it

1977's avatar1977

Quote: Originally posted by Shelby Mustang on Mar 3, 2014

Dont believe i'd told that story, I'd rather said I'd left it in a jacket I rarely wear, rather than admit I was a bum who left trash around long enough to get dust on it

LOL!!!!!!

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Congratulation to all the winnersThumbs Up

Lynn-Lynn's avatarLynn-Lynn

Good luck with your win

dognabit

Morale of the story, always clean your room.Big Smile

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