A Montgomery County couple was celebrating being $250,000 richer after nearly throwing away their winning Mega Millions ticket. “I looked in the trash for an hour and a half before I found it,” said the liquor store manager.
The 49-year-old purchased several Mega Millions tickets for Tuesday night’s drawing. After checking each one, he threw them all away, thinking that they were non-winners. It wasn’t until a Lottery employee told his brother that a second-tier winning ticket was bought at the store where he had gotten his that he realized he could be the big winner.
“My brother told me the exciting news,” he said. “I immediately got a report from the store’s lottery terminal to find out what the numbers were.” Once he saw the numbers he knew they looked familiar.
However, he had thrown the tickets in the trash. “I called my wife to tell her we won the $250,000 winning Mega Millions prize, but I was looking for the ticket in the trash.”
“I didn’t believe him,” said his wife of 17 years who accompanied him to Lottery Headquarters. Delighted to have won the $250,000 prize, they both look forward to returning to claim a Mega Millions jackpot win.
The happy couple plans to use their winnings towards some bills and to take a trip to Europe. The winning ticket was purchased at Barnabas Liquors, located at 4620 St Barnabas Rd. in Temple Hills.