Coffee-stained lottery ticket saved from garbage becomes big winner for Virginia woman
When a Virginia woman heard the winning lottery numbers, she rushed to the trash can.
She had already thrown her lottery ticket away.
Mary Elliott, from Buckingham County, about 80 miles west of Richmond, rummaged through her trash until she found the winning ticket, according to Virginia lottery officials.
The ticket was now covered in coffee stains, so much so Elliott was unable to scan the barcode to confirm her win, according to a news release.
She had to wait until officials at the Virginia Lottery’s Prize Zone West confirmed her ticket and finally awarded her the prize money – $110,000.
“When I saw I’d won, I couldn’t stop shaking to save my life!” she said, according to the release.
Elliott won the top prize on Feb. 24 by matching all five numbers, with loved ones’ birthdays as her picks, and beating odds of 1 in 749,398.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Coffee-stained lottery ticket saved from garbage becomes big winner for Virginia woman."
