Lottery player won $1 million on Kansas ticket — but didn’t realize it for 2 months

A Kansas resident’s forgetful moment turned into an unsuspecting winning day, lottery officials announced Tuesday.

More than two months after an Osage County resident bought a ticket in the 2020 Holiday Millionaire Raffle, they found it inside the console of their vehicle, according to the Kansas Lottery. That ticket ended up being the game’s grand prize winner.

They took the ticket and other scratch-off tickets to a retail store, where an employee told them to call the Kansas Lottery. That’s when they got the life-changing news.

“They told me to sit down before telling me I won $1 million!” said the winner, who remained anonymous. “We were in complete shock and started crying we were so happy about the win!”

Now $1 million richer, the winner said they will invest most of the money and use some “for a well-deserved vacation,” according to the Kansas Lottery.

The winning ticket was bought at Bryan’s Liquor in Auburn and that retailer is eligible for a $1,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

“This whole thing is like a Cinderella story for us,” the winner said. “We’re hard workers and we’re just so thankful.”

Lottery officials announced the winning numbers Jan. 5 with the $1 million number of 028244. Other prizes in the game were worth up to $100,000.

The lottery winner isn’t done, either. They said they’ll try for another $1 million from the next Holiday Millionaire Raffle game, according to lottery officials.

This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 11:42 AM with the headline "Lottery player won $1 million on Kansas ticket — but didn’t realize it for 2 months."