Woman loses winning $162 Mil lottery ticket

[Speedo]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/01/05/megamillions.lostticket.ap/index.html

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio (AP) -- A Cleveland woman has told police she picked the winning numbers for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot but lost the ticket before the drawing, according to a police report.

Elecia Battle told police she dropped her purse as she left the Quick Shop Food Mart last week after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing.

The Ohio Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at the store, about 15 miles east of Cleveland.

After news of Battle's police report spread Monday night, several people wielding flashlights walked through snow and braved frigid temperatures to try to find the ticket in the store parking lot.

"I decided to come back to see if I could find the winning ticket," said LaVerne Coleman, 57, who says she would keep the winnings if she found the ticket.

Police say Battle was in tears when she came to the station Friday to file the report and did not hesitate when asked to write down the winning numbers.

"We don't believe that she's fabricating it, but there's no real way of knowing other than going on her word," Lt. Kevin Nieter told Cleveland's WEWS-TV on Monday.

Nieter said information Battle knew about when the ticket was bought and how the numbers were picked make her story credible. She told police that the numbers -- 12, 18, 21, 32 and 46 and Mega Ball 49 -- represented family birthdays and ages.

The winning ticket was sold to someone who chose the numbers, not someone who let the machine pick.

Messages left with the police department seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Battle could not immediately be reached for comment. There was no telephone listing for her.

Nieter said Battle may be out of luck if someone else picked up the lone winning ticket.

"Whoever has the ticket has the right to stake the claim to the winning jackpot. You can file all the police reports you want but it's not going to help," he said.

Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said that if someone else came in with the ticket, Battle could try to get a temporary restraining order in court to block the winnings from being paid.

The winner has six months from the drawing to claim the largest jackpot in state history. If the money isn't claimed by June 27, it goes to Ohio and 10 other states that participate in the game.

Must stink for her.

 

[jpowers]

The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math, but I'm surprised there isn't a computerized system to associate your social security number with your lottery numbers so you don't have to carry around grubby pieces of paper.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

She is now officially the most unlucky woman in the World.

I remember another unlucky man who died just 10 days after winning the jackpot.

 

[thestonesfan]

Man, if that doesn't suck, I don't know what does.

 

[IceBlaZe]

She is just an anomaly. There's no such thing as luck.
I bet something good in the same level that this is bad will happen (or has happened) to someone.
And the wheel will continue to spin.

 

[The Chosen One]

Who even knows if she really lost it. Hell i'm sure plenty of people would say "they remember the numbers on the winning ticket that they lost just minutes after buying that winning ticket."
And why did she bother driving 15 miles east to buy the ticket?

 

[Nad]

gutted!!

Although it'll teach her to be more careful with her possessions in the future. Still, missing out on that sort of wealth because of your own stupidity.... I think this smiley: is called for!

 

[Ian Beale]

laughable. It annoys me when i don't win the lottery and i have to admit to getting a certain amount of pleasure from her forgetfulness. Yes it is a sick and twisted pleasure but unless the person desperately needed the money i have little sympathy. As someone said earlier they should have a better system for claiming so that you don't have to keep hold of the ticket, maybe you could be sent an email telling you of your win (if you didn't know anyway).

 

[Lifeblood]

That is so stupid. I've never lost a lottery or gambling ticket in my life. If there's even the slightest chance of marginal profit I keep the ticket close with me until I have 100% verified the results with a booking office.

 

[Chris1111]

Here's the update seems she was lying. Gee what a surprise.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/01/06/lottery.ticket.ap/index.html

 

[useless]

what a lier!

 

[BorgeoisBuffoon]

In a way, I'm surprised this made news here in the first place. Wouldn't this kind of thing happen with every big lottery?

 

[ShiplordAtvar]

Originally posted by jpowers
The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math

That's why I don't play the lottery. When I was taking a probability class in college, my prof (during a lesson on expected value) said "You know, from what we've seen here, lotteries are just taxes on the mathematically disinclined."

 

[ShiplordAtvar]

Just wait for the woman who first claimed the ticket to say that the woman who is turning it in stole the ticket from the lost purse.

 

[cgannon64]

It doesn't suck that much.

She only lost $1.

 

[Archer 007]

Well, she should have been more careful

 

[Aramazd]

That sucks

 

[cgannon64]

What's funny is that people showed up and searched outside the store when they heard she lost it.

 

[Comraddict]

Originally posted by cgannon64
What's funny is that people showed up and searched outside the store when they heard she lost it.

and you wouldn't for $164MIL ??

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Originally posted by useless
what a lier!

The word is liar.

Add that word to your spelling book and together we WILL make you less useless!