Frederick-sold ticket is first claim in a trio of expiring prizes
A professional writer with a knack for working on deadline just beat a BIG deadline – the claiming period for a $50,000 winning Powerball ticket she purchased while the jackpot was riding high in August. The York, Pa. resident discovered the prize-winning ticket late last week and rushed to Lottery headquarters on Monday to claim the prize set to expire Feb. 9.
The self-employed writer has actually interviewed Lottery winners but never dreamed she’d become one herself. “I asked myself, ‘Is this really happening?’ ” she said.
The 40-year-old winner was chasing the rolling Powerball jackpot when she purchased the ticket for the Aug. 12 drawing. She bought her $2 quick-pick ticket at Wegmans #54 located at 7830 Wormans Mill Road in Frederick.
She quickly forgot to check the ticket when there was no jackpot winner that night. The jackpot roll continued until a Massachusetts player won $758.7 million. Our winner had no idea that she held a ticket worth $50,000 until last week.
All of these months, she said, her lucky Powerball ticket was safely tucked in her purse with other tickets. Only last week did she decide to see if any of them were winners. The loyal player compared the tickets, one by one, with Powerball drawing results at mdlottery.com. The lucky ticket had four numbers – 20, 24, 35 and 49 – and a Power Ball of 19 that matched the winning numbers in the Aug. 12 drawing.
The lucky lady actually heard reports of the expiring tickets on the radio as she drove from Pennsylvania to Maryland to claim the ticket on Monday!
The happy woman has plans for her prize. She is very busy making her writing business a success and putting in many long hours. She told Lottery officials that she plans to invest a portion of her winnings and use some of her prize for a hard-earned vacation.
Players have 182 days to claim prizes after the drawing date. Maryland Lottery officials are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of two other $50,000 Powerball winners whose tickets are days from expiring. A ticket sold in the Aug. 5 drawing will expire on Friday, Feb. 2, and a winning ticket from the Aug. 19 drawing will expire on Friday, Feb. 16.