Mildred Simoneriluto, Monroeville, Pennsylvania woman claims leaving winning $2.5 million lottery ticket inside denim jacket she donated to Goodwill outlet as she now hunts to find item before deadline of May 2 to produce physical hard copy of win. Will she prevail?
Can magic luck struck twice? An elderly Pennsylvania woman is hoping against hope that someone will return a denim jacket she donated which she claims had a winning $2.5 million lottery ticket which she’d ‘accidentally’ placed inside a pocket before donating the item to a Goodwill outlet.
Mildred Simoneriluto, 76, of Monroeville, PA, placed the winning Cash 5 ticket inside the pocket of a denim jacket for safekeeping.
‘I remember saying: “If I put it here, I won’t forget it,’’ the alleged lottery winner told WTAE.
Where is Mildred Simoneriluto’s $2.5 million winning lottery ticket?
Except she did. And the jacket was packed up with other items and donated to the Vietnam Veterans of America. The outlet dispenses donated clothing around the world and the US.
The piece of clothing was later picked up by a service called Pickup Please and could be anywhere in the world by now.
What to think? What to do? What media outlet to call?
The Pennsylvania Lottery has affirmed that it will also not accept Mildred’s alleged win without turning in the physical winning ticket
The dejected woman reportedly went back to Stop N’ Save, where she bought the ticket, hoping they could help, only to be told there was nothing they could do to assist.
‘I went back to Stop N’ Save maybe a hundred times,’ Mildred told WTAE. ‘And they said there was nothing they could do.’
The ticket – with winning numbers 14, 22, 33, 35, 38 – expires May 8
Yes kids, the time clock is ticking… only 36 days to go…
Can Mildred still claim $2.5m lottery win?
Simoneriluto is still hoping she’ll somehow manage to get it back… along with the jacket.
But it gets worse.
Anyone who acquires the ticket can claim the prize in the state, meaning Simoneriluto could lose out on her big payday.
‘What else can I do? Cry out loud and hope that something will happen,’ she told WTAE.
‘I was stupefied,’ she said, referring to the moment she realized the ticket was gone. ‘There are no words for it, there’s no expression. How can I get it back?’
Can magic dumb luck struck twice?
Simoneriluto’s misfortune echoes other cases of lost lottery winnings. In 2001, British couple Martyn and Kay Tott lost out on a £3 million National Lottery prize after misplacing their ticket.
Despite proving they had purchased the winning numbers, lottery rules required the couple to produce the physical ticket, with the couple getting nothing.
Finders Keepers
However, the rules are different in Canada. In 2012, An Ontario woman, Kathryn Jones, bought a ticket that she promptly lost and forgot about.
She was unaware the ticket had won C$50 million until lottery officials showed up at her house with the good news, having traced her via the lottery retailer’s surveillance video.
In 2005, in Massachusetts, an 86-year-old man, Edward St. John, found a $1 million ticket in the trash.
The original owner challenged St. John’s claim to the winnings, but the Massachusetts Lottery ruled that a lottery ticket is like legal tender — possession is all that is required to prove ownership.
In the end the man was sued and agreed to settle with the losing family for $140K.
