Includes video report
Maybe you've heard this story before. Or dreamed it.
A man cleans out old lottery tickets from a cookie jar, and instead of throwing them away takes them to the 7-Eleven to check them out. And finds one of them is worth millions.
It gets better for Ricardo Cerezo of Geneva, Illinois. He says his family was facing eviction, and he'll use part of the winnings — $4.85 million — to pay off the home.
"It couldn't have happened at a better time," said Cerezo, a management consultant. "I just thought, this is how God works."
Cerezo said his wife was cleaning out the kitchen and mentioned the lottery tickets that had accumulated over the past month in a glass cookie jar.
"It was either take them, get them checked, or she was going to trash them that night," he said.
Cerezo said he took the tickets to a 7-Eleven in Aurora and scanned them. The first eight or nine tickets weren't winners, he said.
"The following one was $3, so I was excited. I get to pay for my Pepsi. And then the last one said file a claim," he said, which meant it was worth at least $600.
Cerezo went online and found that the numbers matched the Feb. 2 Lotto drawing.
"As each number kept matching, the smile kept going higher and higher. And when I realized we had all six numbers, it was that shocking moment of , 'Whoa, can this really be?'" he said at a news conference Wednesday. "Fast forward to the next day, Monday: Called in sick from work, went down into Chicago. It's one of those feelings where it's OK if they fire me."
After he waited about half an hour, Cerezo said, lottery officials brought him into a room and said his ticket was worth $4.85 million.
Just three months earlier, Cerezo appeared at a foreclosure hearing where a judge gave him a few more months to find a new home before they would be evicted.
"That was on Feb. 12, so we were sitting on $4 million at that time in this jar," he said. "We will have our home paid off."
Cerezo said February holds special significance for him and his family because his daughter Savannah was born in that month. She died from a sudden illness last year at 14.
VIDEO: Watch the video report
Thanks to everyone who sent a tip.
I think this is my favorite lottery story of all time. Money can't solve everything but they sure did deserve a financial leg up. My son is 14, I can't imagine losing him.
That's one tasty chocolate chip cookie!
My step-daughter is 12 and my daughter is 9 months, I know my wife and I would definitely be crushed if anything happened to them.
I know Mr. Cerezo's Daughter is smiling down on them from heaven. It's good to hear a win go to those that really need it. :)
Wow, great story.
I love reading stories like this.
Something like this would never happen to me because I check my tics at the time of the draw.
Mmmm.... maybe I should just try to keep my tics in the drawer for 2 or 3 months before checking them.
Naw....
Wow!!!! What an amazing story.
I am glad he found this ticket prior to being foreclosed and homeless. Just imagine if him and his family had gone through the eviction process and someone else found the ticket while rummaging through their belonging that had been put to the curb
Congratulation Mr. Cerezo may your daughter RIP
maybe I should start putting my tickets in a cookie jar too.
Love this story!
Best wishes to the lucky winners.
There is nothing better than a cookie jar story to lift the spirits for this wild jackpot weekend. Congratulations to finding your pot of Gold- spend it well.
I lost my son 12 years ago.I'd give everything I own to have him back.There is no pain like losing a child.
Sorry for your loss Cletu$ may your son RIP
Amazing story! I'm glad that they are no longer being evicted, can buy their home, and can have some fun with the money. He deserves it. I'm sorry about the loss of his daughter. That is so gut wrenching and sad. Many Blessings. Good luck on your new found fortune.
I can't help but notice that a "management consultant" is about to be evicted from his own home... if he couldn't even manage his own finances...
It's always sad when the child dies before the parent
Thank you,dallascowboyfan.
The day I win the lottery I'll have the juciest story ever. Hollywood has nothing on me. It will involve a lost ticket, strong winds blowing the ticket, dodging cars in rush hour in pursuit, stopping long enough to add quarters to a meter to save a stranger from getting a parking ticket, the works! Can you top that? lol
Congrats Mr. Ricardo Cerezo!
Whoa !
gotta go check my cookie jar !
Dang, nothing but chocolate chips in there !
Oh well, went to the dentist last week for a checkup and he said I was doing good,
so.... munch...munch LOL
I wonder where they bought their cookie jar... I might just run out and pick up one that was fired from the same batch... :)
Thank GOD he didn't let her throw out the tickets!!!!
His daughter was looking down; helping them out. What a sweet angel.
HeeHeeHaHaHa!!!
(Part of that sounds like the starting of the old TV show "My Name is Earl" ... HeeHee!)
Glad they won they deserve it.
Start putting my tickets in the cookie jar ......
lol
There is always more to the story when someone is getting kicked out. Sorry for their loss.
I never stick my hand in a cookie jar.
I always have this fear that there'll be Fig Newtons in there.
Absolutely!
Something about those crunchy, disturbing little seeds.
No part of a cookie should crackle like that.
Fill that cookie part with something else and then you're talking cookie.
It goes further than that for me, dr.
I can't go on, I'll start gagging.
I learned to eat fig newtons from Granma's cookie jar............
Nowadays I get the raspberry one's cuz they have extra seeds.
I get nauseous just picturing a fig newton in my mind's eye.
I like fig newtons. But my favorite thing to eat as as a baby was stewed prunes. lol
I'm gonna hurl...
Cerezo is really a lucky guy, he was able to have money when he needed it most. God has an amazing way to help people. I guess I need to check my old tickets too!