A woman in Pennsylvania lost a winning $2.5 million lottery ticket after leaving it in a jacket she donated to charity.
Mildred Simoneriluto, 76, is trying to track down her lost loot in a fight against the clock. If she doesn’t find the physical stub by May 8, she’ll lose out on the jackpot.
Simoneriluto originally bought a Cash 5 lottery ticket at a grocery store in Murrysville in May 2024. She was floored when she discovered she won, but couldn’t find the actual ticket, which Pennsylvania Lottery officials said she needed in order to get the earnings.
While desperately trying to retrace her steps, Simoneriluto recalled that she placed the ticket in her jacket — which she had since donated to Vietnam Veterans of America, a charity that distributes collected items worldwide.
“I was stupefied; there are no words for it, there’s no expression. How can I get it back?” Simoneriluto told WTAE.
To make matters worse, Simoneriluto said that she only put the ticket in her jacket pocket so that she wouldn’t forget about it in the first place.
She’s returned to the grocery store where she purchased the ticket multiple times, but employees repeatedly assured her there was nothing more that they could do to help.
Simoneriluto has the winning numbers seared into her memory: 14, 22, 33, 35, and 38. And now, others are keeping an eye out for it just in case it turns up in their own jacket pocket.
“What else can I do? Cry out loud and hope that something will happen positive on my end?” she lamented.
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