Man Finds Months-Old Winning Powerball Ticket While Cleaning Home, Takes Home $1M

KEY POINTS

A 54-year-old Florida man found a winning lottery ticket while cleaning his home on the Fourth of July
The ticket matched five numbers from an April drawing and was worth $1 million
The Jacksonville store where he bought the winning ticket will also receive a $1,000 commission

A 54-year-old man in Duval County, Florida, was "in shock" after he found a $1 million lottery ticket while cleaning his house over the Fourth of July weekend, lottery officials said.

"I was cleaning the house on the Fourth of July when I found the Powerball ticket in a drawer," Kenneth Morgan was quoted as saying Wednesday in a statement by the Florida Lottery, which is the government-run organization responsible for running the lottery.

"I checked the numbers and discovered it was a $1 million winner - I'm still in shock!" the Jacksonville resident added.

According to the statement, Morgan's winning Quick Pick ticket matched all five of the white ball numbers from the April 17 Powerball drawing but did not match the Powerball number. He claimed a $1 million prize following the discovery of the ticket, Florida Lottery said.

The ticket had been purchased from Publix Liquor Store located along Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville, Morgan said. According to the lottery statement, the store will receive a $1,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.

A similar incident happened in White County, Tennessee, four months ago when a man recovered his winning $1 million lottery ticket in a parking lot after losing it.

Nick Slatten, of Sparta, bought a Tennessee Cash ticket on March 11 and discovered it had been worth $1,178,746.

"I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it," Slatten said. "I can't express it. It was something else."

Slatten, however, realized that he did not have the ticket anymore after finishing errands for the day.

He retraced his steps from the day and pulled into a parking lot where he saw the winning ticket lying on the ground right next to the driver's side door of another vehicle.

"It's a million-dollar ticket, and someone stepped right over it," Slatten said.

According to the Tennessee Lottery, which operates the Tennessee Cash lottery, Slatten and his fiancée will continue to work following the win. They also have plans to buy a house and vehicles as well as invest.