US woman wins $100,000 after discovering forgotten lottery ticket in her closet

Talk about a lucky find. A woman in Virginia, United States, has won $100,000 after stumbling upon a box of old lottery tickets hidden away in her closet, Fox News reported.

The winner, identified as Alfreda Hawkins, was cleaning her house when she came across the tickets. Deciding to scratch them off, she realised that one of them — an Extreme Cash ticket — was worth the massive prize.

“It was amazing,” Hawkins said in a statement shared by the Virginia Lottery, adding that the unexpected discovery left her almost speechless.

The winning ticket had been purchased from a Shop & Go convenience store in Richmond. Interestingly, this was also the last top prize available for the Extreme Cash scratch-off game, according to lottery officials.

While Hawkins has no immediate plans for how she will spend her winnings, her stroke of luck has captured attention online, especially at a time when America’s lottery fever is at a high. The Mega Millions jackpot has now climbed to $520 million, while the Powerball jackpot stands at $174 million.

Last year, a man from Macomb County in the US state of Michigan narrowly missed winning a Fantasy 5 jackpot one night. But, he ended up matching all five numbers the next day, securing a $795,905 ( ₹6.7 crore) jackpot.

The 53-year-old chose to stay anonymous. However, he has shared with CBS News that he regularly purchases Fantasy 5 tickets whenever the jackpot exceeds $250,000 (around ₹2 crore).