Lucky woman narrowly escapes every lottery player's worst nightmare
By Kate Northrop
BURLINGTON, N.C. — A North Carolina Lottery player claimed a half-million Cash 5 jackpot just in time after losing the winning ticket for months.
Ana Maya of Graham nearly lost out on a Cash 5 jackpot worth $532,234 when her winning ticket went missing in a moving fiasco, but the ticket luckily resurfaced from an odd hiding spot.
The 32-year-old customer service employee stopped at Huff's Interstate on Maple Avenue in Burlington and bought a Quick Pick for the Cash 5 drawing on Sept. 6.
When she found out she was the winner of the $532,000 jackpot, Maya was deep in the process of moving to a new house. She packed the winning ticket away in one of her moving boxes.
For some reason, the little slip of paper was nowhere to be found when she unpacked her belongings.
"These last couple of months have been very stressful trying to find it," Maya told the Lottery. "I totally forgot where I put it."
Lottery winners in North Carolina have 180 days to collect prizes, and time was running out. Maya had until March 6 to claim her prize, the date the ticket was set to expire.
After what was likely an agonizing number of searches and deep cleans later, the elusive ticket finally turned up on Tuesday in one of her old high school notebooks, a spot Maya said she likely placed the ticket in for safekeeping.
"I was very, very relieved when I finally found it," Maya said. "That was the last place I would have looked."
On Wednesday, she claimed her half-million prize at Lottery headquarters in Raleigh and could finally breathe a sigh of relief. After taxes, she took home $346,005.
With the winnings securely in her possession, Maya said she'll use the money to pay some bills and invest and will put some aside for her two small children. On top of that, she's planning on taking a nice vacation, probably much-needed after the stress of dodging a potentially disastrous debacle.
QP again ruled the day.
Could you imagine the horror she went through looking for that little piece of paper?
OTOH GA had a nice Palindrome last night...2112 which paid out just over $4.5 million for those lucky players!
Palindrome? That's the name of one of the most famous Rush albums!
Hmmm... Michigan had 2002 come up last night...
Boy, If I knew I had a big winning ticket I know exactly where it would be! I've never had one.
It all turned out OK for her anyway...doesn't say if she somehow marked the box she put it in and still lost track of it or if she just put it somewhere with out putting some kind of marking on the box.
Seems like one of those times when 5 seconds would have saved a lot of hassle.
Congrats Ana !!!!!
Now I am slightly perplexed by some of her modus operandi....
"the elusive ticket finally turned up on Tuesday in one of her old high school notebooks,a spot Maya said she likely placed the ticket in for safekeeping.
"I was very, very relieved when I finally found it" Maya said. "That was the last place I would have looked".
A legal document worth $346,005.00 ? .....Well(scratching head).... that sure is a unique way of handling finances..... BUT, You have your money and that is the most important thing !!
Best of luck and kudos on the win.
who is Kate Northrup? Todd's wife?
No...She's actually the weather gal for Lottery Post.... Sometimes they have her double-dip and do some investigative reporting.
weather gal?
So what's the weather like these days on lottery post?
Agreed. Who says things like "weather gal?" Pretty insulting and comments like that diminish all women.
I have watched her videos and she is a very professional lottery news presenter and investigative journalist.
She is in her 30s, so lots of time i hope, to enjoy,and save some for a rainy day. and invest some."
Great job. Moving and "happen to find it, etc.," that's a blessing. Even after NC take out a truckload of taxes, she is still going to have a better 2022 & beyond i hope."
Have to put those tickets up.
and or check it ASAP (same evening/following morning) Yep.
My father always remind me of it, with all of my wins in P4, i have a habit of that. Glad she found it.
Happy for her.
One of the reasons that things are in the last place you looked is because after you find what you were looking for, you stop looking!
My favorite Palindrome song was "Sit on a potato pan Otis."
Congrats to the lucky lady.