Stevensville Woman Scans Ticket Repeatedly, Doubts $10,000 Prize

Some of her Mega Millions windfall going to the dogs

A Queen Anne’s County resident was so shocked to see a Lottery ticket-checker message stating she won $10,000 playing Mega Millions that she didn’t immediately accept the results.

“I scanned it about 15 times, and every time it said it was a winner but I still didn’t believe it,” the Stevensville woman said with a smile. “Then, I ran out of the store to tell my husband.”

The lucky winner said she usually purchases Mega Millions tickets once a week and sometimes gets behind on checking her tickets for a win. Seeing a pile of tickets had built up, the 74-year-old decided to take them to a Lottery retailer to see if any were winners.

“I had a whole wallet full of tickets and the second ticket I scanned was the winner,” she told Lottery officials.

The lucky $2 quick-pick Mega Millions ticket was from Sept. 20. The drawing for that night was 09-21-28-30-52 and the Mega Ball was 10. She was off by one number, as she had 33 instead of 30 for that drawing. Still, matching four out of five numbers with the Mega Ball is enough to secure a $10,000 prize.

The lucky winner said she always plays quick-pick tickets. She plans to use the money to pay off bills. A retiree from an aerospace and defense company, the lucky lady has five children and 12 grandchildren. She and her husband live with six dogs, including three that were rescued.

“We love our dogs. We might spend some of the money on dog toys,” she added.

Her winning ticket hails from Food Lion #1313 at 300 Thompson Creek Mall in Stevensville. There’s still time to get a ticket at that store or other Lottery retailers for the estimated $333 million Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs on Friday, Dec. 2. The estimated cash value is $172.3 million.