A New Jersey couple cleaning out a cluttered drawer in their Mercer County home stumbled upon a Mega Millions ticket worth $1 million — months after buying it and forgetting it even existed.
The winning slip had been purchased on New Year’s Eve at a Speedymart Food Store in West Trenton, along with two others that turned out to be duds. “I just opened the drawer and I saw the tickets,” one of the winners recalled. “I decided to get them checked. I scanned them. One said ‘not a winner,’ and then another ‘not a winner,’ and then I scanned a ticket that said ‘winner.’”
The couple, who have chosen to remain anonymous, said they had no memory of the tickets until their recent bout of spring cleaning. None of the three had ever been checked.
According to the New Jersey Lottery, the winning ticket was not at risk of expiring. State rules give winners up to one year from the draw date to claim prizes. This particular ticket, tied to the December 31 drawing, was well within that window.
As for the money, the couple says it won’t be used for lavish purchases or extravagant vacations. “For us, it’s more about helping the children, making sure they don’t have debt,” they said.
The winning ticket was one of several sold across the state as part of the year-end Mega Millions draw. Officials from the New Jersey Lottery noted that delayed claims like this are not uncommon — especially when tickets are bought during the holiday season and promptly forgotten.
