A Virginia Woman Found $3m Mega Million Win From Weeks-ago Bought Ticket
For Melena Hill of Portsmouth, Virginia, a lady’s forgotten lottery ticket tucked away in a nightstand drawer turned into a life-changing surprise. She bought her Mega Millions ticket Weeks ago for the January 9th drawing. Hill purchased her winning ticket at a Murphy USA gas station in Suffolk, Virginia, which typically uses Easy Pick, allowing the computer to randomly select the numbers.
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Her chosen numbers matched the first five white balls drawn, and just one number away from winning the jackpot. Thanks to the Megaplier option she selected for an additional dollar, her prize money tripled from $1 million to a staggering $3 million.
Hill said her forgotten ticket left him in pure shock and disbelief, she did not know, that a seemingly unremarkable piece of paper held the $3 million worth. Hill recounted to Virginia Lottery officials, “My stomach had butterflies,” “I screamed a little bit!”
News of Hill’s Winning will remind us “always to check lottery tickets”. Unclaimed lottery prizes in Virginia become the property of the Commonwealth after 180 days from the drawing date. This means the lucky winner loses their chance to claim their riches. Imagine the disappointment of realizing you had a winning ticket gathering dust in a drawer! In Virginia, lottery proceeds directly benefit K-12 education, with over $867 million raised in Fiscal Year 2023 alone. This translates to roughly 10% of the state’s total budget for K-12 schools.
Source: For updated information on Lottery payouts and Federal tax obligations visit www.irs.gov.
