Tennessee man misplaces his million-dollar lottery ticket, then finds it lying in a parking lot

Comment #29

brees2012 — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 20:47:45 GMT

Glad he found his ticket. Always keep your ticket in a safe place.

Comment #28

KY Floyd — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 19:30:24 GMT

All bearer instruments of any type have no ownership information recorded on them at the time of issue and given to the purchaser. The holder is presumed to be the owner,

Sort of like cash, huh? Or a lawnmower. The government never passed a law that made some special class of property where the owner loses their rights to the property simply because they lose or misplace it. Bearer instruments are just an alternative to registered securities, where ownership is registered and tracked.

an... [ More ]

Comment #27

GiveFive — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 12:08:25 GMT

Turns out I was wrong, ownership of a lottery ticket does not remain with the lottery that issued it.

The official rules documentation of all state lotteries explicitly state that the ticket is a bearer instrument. All bearer instruments of any type have no ownership information recorded on them at the time of issue and given to the purchaser. The holder is presumed to be the owner, and whoever is in possession of the physical ticket is entitled to the prize payment(s). So maybe your state l... [ More ]

Comment #26

GiveFive — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 11:22:24 GMT

I would agree that someone who loses something still retains ownership of it. In the case of lottery tickets, I'm not sure whether or not anyone who buys a lottery ticket actually owns it.

I seem to recall reading somewhere, (but I could be completely wrong about this) that all tickets remain the property of the lottery conducting the drawings. If that's the case, then it might be that a tickets sole purpose is to serve as proof that any bearer of it won a prize. There has to be a reason why... [ More ]

Comment #25

KY Floyd — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 04:49:09 GMT

I would have signed the ticket which gives me ALL legal rights to it.

Have you made it past 2nd grade yet? Just because somebody loses their property doesn't mean they lose ownership of it.

Comment #24

noise-gate — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 21:41:50 GMT

As Floyd put it Buy clothing with pockets.

A bunch of years ago, this father out here sent his 15-17 year old son to cash his tickets, which he knew were winners. Well, with the proceeds, he told his kid to pick up a certain scratcher which as luck would have it, turned out to be a $5 mil winner. The CA lottery refused to pay after viewing the footage from the stores showing the kid picking out the winning ticket. The father said he was going to sue the lottery. Never did find out how that c... [ More ]

Comment #23

GiveFive — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 15:16:15 GMT

Fraud (ie tax fraud, mail fraud, internet fraud, wire fraud etc) and perjury (a crime concerning matters material to an official proceeding such as jury trial) are felonious criminal offenses that carry prison sentences as penalties.

Cashing an unsigned bearer instrument that someone found on a street corner is neither fraud or perjury. G5

Comment #22

GiveFive — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 13:37:51 GMT

Anyone that finds a big winning ticket lying on the ground would be absolutely crazy to try to find the person that originally bought it.

Many people would immediately tell you it was they who bought it, but how would you know that you gave it back to the real original purchaser of it? Given it's worth million(s) dollars, wouldn't you want to be absolutely positive you gave it back to the person who bought it?

How would you know that the original purchaser wasn't someone who was from out... [ More ]

Comment #21

winterhug — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 19:29:16 GMT

Like I said this kind of thing has already been reported on the news so, most people already know these things that are going. It sounds like you don't know much about the lottery.

Back to the original statement there is nothing wrong with someone finding and unsigned lottery ticket in a parking lot and signing it, cashing it in and keeping the money for themselves. It even says as much on the back of lottery tickets: Important information, please sign the back of your ticket: This ticket is... [ More ]

Comment #20

aux8b — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 19:06:52 GMT

I would NEVER put this on line, Or the News.

Keep to my self.

Comment #19

winterhug — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 18:26:11 GMT

Yes, there are CCTV camera in some stores and the date stamps and what not on the tickets but your are forgetting one thing. There would be no reason to suspect me of having a found lottery ticket because I would have signed the ticket which gives me ALL legal rights to it. In a perfect world all stores would have working CCTV cameras but they don't. That is why some store clerks get away with stealing customers winning lottery tickets and cashing them in for themselves. Dateline and 20/20 have... [ More ]

Comment #18

Bleudog101 — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 14:30:50 GMT

I agree in principle with you but one thing you left out. CCTV, if they have one right above POS @ the lottery machine that could time/date stamp the said transaction.

Remember a few years ago the California lottery outed a huge winner by reviewing the tapes? It was all over the news and so unfair to the player since it had been purchased recently.

Comment #17

winterhug — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 10:43:23 GMT

OMG, you have put just too much thought into this scenario. I think YOU have forgotten the rules of the lottery. It does NOT matter how I would have acquire the ticket because as long at the back of the ticket is NOT signed, it belongs to whoever found it...No fraud or perjury involved. This is why the lottery commission and lawyers always say, sign your ticket . I have no obligation to the lottery to tell them how I came about the ticket. All they ever ask is how did you come up the winning num... [ More ]

Comment #16

KY Floyd — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 06:42:51 GMT

person who lost the ticket, would never know it was me who found it...

You know that being anonymous doesn't mean the lottery won't know who you are, right? And that for any substantial prize the lottery will be asking how you acquired the ticket, and that you'll be claiming that you're the rightful owner? That means you can admit that you found it and didn't try to locate the owner, or you can commit fraud and perjury hoping you don't get caught.

Comment #15

winterhug — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 00:23:20 GMT

If I found a ticket in a parking lot and it turned out to be a multi-million dollar winner. I would not look for the person who purchased the ticket, I would keep it because most likely that person who be long gone from the parking lot like the guy in the article. If it was a QP, I would cash it in right away, if It was someone's personal pick I would think about what to do for a few days. I then would cash it in because in my state, I can remain anonymous and person who lost the ticket, would n... [ More ]

Comment #14

dannyct — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 23:23:47 GMT

This is exactly why I love subscriptions, you can't loose your ticket

Comment #13

noise-gate — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 20:48:57 GMT

Facebook huh? I see the kids are out.

Comment #12

Stack47 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 17:59:16 GMT

Saw a similar scenario on Facebook where someone found a ticket in a parking lot that turned out to be a multi-million winner. The question was would you cash the ticket or look for the person that purchased the ticket. My answer if it was a QP, the person would never know what they lost.

Not much can be said for anyone losing their million dollar ticket after checking it.

Comment #11

MatrixMan369 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 17:20:06 GMT

Comment #10

winterhug — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 16:11:26 GMT

Yeah, I used to go through the convenient store trash cans a lot before the COVID-19 pandemic but not much anymore. When I do, I use a lot of hand sanitizer. I am looking for discarded winning tickets and the non-winners for reward points and second chance prize entries. The most I have found on a discarded scratch-off is $50

Comment #9

winterhug — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 16:05:23 GMT

Yeah COVID-19 has put a damper on things like picking up discarded tickets, in convenient store trash cans. I did find a discarded stratch-off laying beside a lottery ticket checker a few days ago. I decided to check the ticket and sure enough it was a $5 winner. I no longer do it as much as I did before but I do it on occasion and use a lot of hand sanitizer. I am looking for winners and for the reward points and second chance entries

Comment #8

LottoNoobie — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 15:36:36 GMT

Probably due to COVID. I wouldnt't go around picking up random tickets either. Some time I do use rubber gloves to grab discarded scratch-offs. Not in the hope they are a winner, but for the extra spins.

Comment #7

Bleudog101 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 15:35:21 GMT

Been dumpster diving lately (trash cans) and so far 629 entries into a drawing.

Scanned my CB 225 ticket, said won $1 and free ticket, got the free ticket and went home. Well hope the next person notices the free $1

Comment #6

winterhug — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 10:31:56 GMT

I agree, most people don't pick up discarded lottery tickets laying in parking lots. I usually don't either but I picked up one back in January 2021 after the Mega Millions jackpot of 1.5B had already been won. I saw on the ticket that the Mega ball number was 24 and I remembered that was the winning ball number. I picked up the ticket hoping the person who discarded did not already cash the ticket in. Sure enough he/she did not and I won $2.

Comment #5

bigbuckswede — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 06:53:01 GMT

Makes me remember the old time here in Sweden where you used to buy a lottery ticket in store, then came the registration with players card, no you could loose your ticket (I did once) and in 60 days your winnings would be transfered to ypur bank account. And now I played online for over 10 and all prizes are safe.

Comment #4

CDanaT — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 03:31:53 GMT

Comment #3

KY Floyd — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 03:21:28 GMT

Maybe when he gets the money he'll be able to afford a wallet. Or pants with pockets. Seriously, where did he put it once he found out that it was a winner that he managed to lose it in a parking lot

Comment #2

noise-gate — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 02:36:49 GMT

Believe it or not, but Nick's ticket was safe out in the parking lot. No one picks up tickets laying on the ground out there checkimg to see if it's a winner, it's the discarded tickets scratchers INSIDE convenient store trash cans you need to worry about. People rummaging through the pile, looking for a displaced winner.

Comment #1

Bleudog101 — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 20:53:23 GMT

Felt myself going through the emotions he did reading this! And right next to someone's car

Tennessee man misplaces his million-dollar lottery ticket, then finds it lying in a parking lot

Lottery Post — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 20:18:05 GMT

It's a miracle recovery that averted tragedy

By Kate Northrop

A Tennessee player became a million dollars richer overnight and almost immediately lost his millionaire status the next day thanks to a fluke that had the potential to leave things on a very tragic note.

All hope seemed lost when a winning Tennessee Lottery ticket worth $1,178,746 was thought to be gone for good, rolling around in the dirt somewhere or blowing around in the breeze on a particularly windy day. In what seemed... [ More ]