For the last couple of months, the gray-haired old man has been a regular morning sight for passersby, his arm thrust deep into the trash barrel outside the White Hen Pantry on Main Street as he fishes for discarded lottery tickets.
But lately 83-year-old Edward St. John has been doing his best to disappear.
As he sifted through the throwaways in front of the convenience store earlier this week, St. John picked out a $1 million winner, and now he's trying to keep a low profile. The winner was on one of the Massachusetts Lottery's "instant" games, or "scratch" tickets.
"That's me, I'm the guy," St. John said as he answered the door of his dormitory-size apartment in a nearby housing complex last night, clad in a white-tank top T-shirt and a pair of taupe khakis. "I don't want pictures taken, nothing, not a thing."
"All I'm interested in," St. John said, "is getting that thing over to Braintree," where the headquarters of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission are located.
But St. John's treasure-in-a-trash-barrel story is already the talk of the town, and practically everybody — from residents of Early Village to folks at Family Grocery — has heard of his winning pick. Most of his neighbors seem to know who he is, even if they don't know his name.
"That's his car, right there," said a neighbor packing boxes onto a truck in the parking lot. "I don't know his name, but that's his car."
Part of the story going around town, however,
is that there are troubles ahead for St. John when he tries to claim his prize.
At the White Hen Pantry, the manager initially posted a photocopy of the winning ticket on the wall, like all the other store's big winners. A day or two later, the photocopy was removed from the display window. The word is that someone who claims to have purchased the ticket — and then threw it away — plans to file a legal action to reclaim the property.
The store apparently removed the photocopy of the ticket on orders from White Hen's corporate honchos in Sharon, Mass.
"Everybody's coming into the store and asking about it and I'm telling them the same thing," said Bob Penta, the manager of the store. "I'm not talking about it. There's a gag order in effect."
A gag order?
Penta declined to elaborate, however, referring questions to the vice president of White Hen Pantry stores, Eric Rosalind, who did not return telephone calls.
To town residents, St. John is a familiar sight on Main Street, fishing through the trash while customers stop by the White Hen for morning coffee and Keno chances. Often, he is seen wearing a gray hat and a trench coat.
"It gives me something to do," St. John explains.
He said he has heard nothing about a looming legal battle to challenge the rightful ownership of his prize — information that seems to surprise him. "Is that so?" he says with the decisive tone of someone ready to do combat.
But if there is such a battle, the court of public opinion already seems to be siding with St. John.
To Richard Ravenelle, it's a clear case of finders-keepers-losers-weepers.
"The way I see it, it belongs to the old man," said Ravenelle, who owns an apartment house not far from the White Hen. "I don't see it any other way. How are you ever going to prove who threw it away? You can't."
Ravenelle didn't know St. John's name, but when he heard of the amazing discovery through the grapevine a couple of days ago, it made sense he was the lucky man. Ravenelle says he often sees St. John in the morning on his way to work, his hand thrust elbow-deep into the convenience store's trash barrel.
From the man's threadbare appearance, Ravenelle figured the guy lived in one of the subsidized apartments for senior citizens nearby, or he might even be homeless.
"He seemed kind of down on his luck," he said.
Well if the person that threw it away gets the money I will be very disgusted.
Unless if the person signed the back of the ticket its a bearers insturment. If you can't tell you won $1,000,000 then you don't deserve to have it anyway. The guy that found it better get the money for it.
Brad
Totally agree
That will teach them to "READ"!!!!
I have found my share of "money in the trash too..LOL
I hope St. John gets to keep it. If someone can't bother to check and double check their tickets and they throw it away that is their loss.
yea i agree, unless he signed the back of it.. then the other guy should be able to keep it.
The money belongs to St. John of course, there is no question about it.
Good luck to him.
finders keepers.
Despite several stories in the news over the past few years about lost tickets (and one of them was in Mass), people do not learn. If you find a winning ticket, do not tell anyone. Even though lottery rules are on your side, you are inviting a lawsuit. Quietly sign it, keep it for a month or 2, then cash it in.
Quick St. John , wipe the fingerprints off the ticket!
Despite several stories in the news over the past few years about lost tickets (and one of them was in Mass), people do not learn. If you find a winning ticket, do not tell anyone. Even though lottery rules are on your side, you are inviting a lawsuit. Quietly sign it, keep it for a month or 2, then cash it in.
"If you find a winning ticket, do not tell anyone. Even though lottery rules are on your side, you are inviting a lawsuit. Quietly sign it, keep it for a month or 2, then cash it in."
great story - he should keep it all
I think he should get it too. I always sign the back of my ticket right after I buy it. ALWAYS!!!!!
How does the saying go, "Only fools fall in love - or buy lottery tickets"?
I wouldn't be surprised if the person who actually bought the ticket only scratched the validation area only. Here in NY, scratch games have a bar code on the back, a 4-digit validation code that is revealed when the entire play area is scratched, and 3 validation letters that are scattered around the play area. These validation letters can also be used to determine the prize value if there is one. For example, O-N-E ($1), T-W-O ($2), F-O-R ($4), F-I-V ($5), T-E-N ($10), T-W-N ($20), F-T-Y ($50), H-U-N ($100), F-V-H ($500). However, certain prize amounts are not so clear cut. For example, a $25 winner has the 3-letter validation code of Z-M-F, $30 is N-A-Z, and $40 is Z-A-P. After playing the scratch games for awhile, these letters are usually a giveaway to tell you if you've won something or not. Some examples of losing 3 letter validation codes are P-T-Y, T-X-L, T-N-M, M-T-X, P-M-Y, etc.
Now the question is, what would the 3-letter validation consist of for a higher-tier prize, say 10K, 25K, 100K, or $1 million? Are there some special letters reserved for this purpose? The answer is no. Quite simply, here in NY, a winning jackpot in an instant game ticket would have any random 3-letter losing validation code as I've mentioned above. I have seen some big winning tickets and the 3-letter validation code looked exactly like something you would find on a losing ticket.
My point is that I've seen MANY discarded lottery scratch tickets where the person who tossed it only scratched the corners and sides of the ticket to reveal the 3-letter validation codes. If you play a certain game long enough, you'll get to know which portion of the ticket contains these letters. They don't understand that even if you see a losing 3-letter pattern it doesn't necessarily mean that your ticket is a loser. I mean in most cases, it probably is, but there is that slight chance that you might have just overlooked a big winning ticket. I've also seen situations where the person only scratches the 4-digit validation code and then walks up to the retailer to have it checked at the terminal. The retailer has to input these numbers after scanning it. This is foolish because there is nothing stopping the retailer from lying...or making a mistake when they manually type in those 4 digits. Can you imagine that? The ticket has 1532, which is the $1 million prize, and by mistake they key in 1533, which is a losing ticket.
Now I'm not sure how instant game tickets in Mass. are formatted and validated. They may or may not contain validation letters and/or numbers. I'm sure that there is some form of validation though. The point of the story is that if you purchase an instant game ticket it makes sense to scratch the ENTIRE playing surface and double check the outcome of the game. I've had situations where I've almost tossed a winning ticket because one of the winning matching numbers was in a far corner of the ticket and still covered by the metallic coating they use. I saw a 2, but it was actually a 22. Ask yourself, did you match your all your symbols or numbers to see if you've won a prize? It takes all the excitement away from me to just look for the validation codes/letters on the ticket and not "play" the game.
Who knows what might have happened in this particular case. Maybe it was an elderly person who couldn't see very well or someone who was in a rush and thought the ticket was a loser. One thing's for sure....play SMART!
The question is though ... did the person really throw away the ticket themselves, or did the store do it then hand him back the WRONG ticket?
I mean how did they get a photocopy of the winning ticket?
The ticket belonged in the trash, since it's annuity-only. BTW I'm in West Virginia right now.
In many states, the three letter codes in the play area are only to help ticket retailers confirm lower prize amounts ($599 and less).
On larger prizes over $599 where you have to go to a lottery office for payout, the letters are meaningless. I have seen a few big winners here in Florida, some with the code NVF which is also a non-winning code on $599 and lower prizes.
Do not go by the three letter codes because a seemingly meaningless code could mean a big winner.
The ticket belonged in the trash, since it's annuity-only. BTW I'm in West Virginia right now.
So you would throw away money just because it's an annuity? Ok.
Rules are very explicit. It's a bearer instrument. St. John bore it, someone else trashed it, it's now St. John's.
Now, if St. John had stalked someone and stolen it, or had seen someone drop it, and then picked it up for himself without telling the other person -- that's theft, and he should be prosecuted.
But someone putting it into the trash, and St. John moseying over to dig through the trash? it's his.
Rules are very explicit. It's a bearer instrument. St. John bore it, someone else trashed it, it's now St. John's.
Now, if St. John had stalked someone and stolen it, or had seen someone drop it, and then picked it up for himself without telling the other person -- that's theft, and he should be prosecuted.
But someone putting it into the trash, and St. John moseying over to dig through the trash? it's his.
Obviously, you missed the class on how Trial Lawyers make their living. The only thing black and white is that which is yellow and blue. Proof: There are more warning signs on ladders, then there are steps. Hot coffee is no longer hot for a reason.
His to keep,whoever says it was there ticket, must be nutty as a fruit cake,or just plain stupid.I have found several tickets in Cohutta,Ga while playing Keno.
Hot coffee is no longer hot for a reason.
That's a riot! How about when a guy in a car commercial jumps off a cliff and there's a disclaimer "professional stuntman. do not attempt"
Hmm..this is a real test of conscience, but I don't think I'd turn in a winning lottery ticket I found unless it was signed and I had read about it in the newspaper. It's tough to say. The rules state the money belongs to the bearer of the ticket. Remember the woman who claimed she lost a PB ticket and then admitted she made up the whole story? Yesterday I found a dollar bill at WalMart. Not the same, but basically the same principle. But let's say it was $100. Should they make an announcement "anyone who lost $100 bill please come to the customer service desk?" Even with a photo ID, only Benjamin Franklin could claim rightful ownership. Of course when I found a watch on the beach I turned it in. Something doesn't make sense here, but most articles in the news leave out important details. They figure most people don't care about the truth, just the hype. I mean, finding a winning ticket in the trash is news! Even a big lotto winner couldn't get away from the press after committing suicide.
(BTW, I did tell the greeter at WalMart I found a dollar.)