We talked about this story 2 weeks ago on a Today With DW episode
UPDATE: A Massachusetts woman who accidentally threw away a $1 million lottery ticket was able to claim her winnings thanks to the owners of the store where the ticket was purchased.
Lea Rose Fiega bought her winning $30 Diamond Millions scratch-off game at the Lucky Stop convenience store in Southwick, which is located near her job, and said she was rushing to get back from her lunch break at the time, the Associated Press reports.
“I was in a hurry, on lunch break, and just scratched it real quick, and looked at it, and it didn’t look like a winner, so I handed it over to them to throw away,” Fiega said on Monday (May 25).
Abhi Shah, the son of the store’s owners, told WWLP-TV that Fiega’s winning ticket was left on the counter and stayed there for 10 days.
“One evening, I was going through the tickets from the trash and found out that she didn’t scratch the number,” Shah said. “I scratched the number and it was $1 million underneath the ticket.”
Fiega is a regular customer at Lucky Stop, so Shah’s family knew she was the one who accidentally discarded the lottery ticket and Shah decided to see her at work.
“He came to my office and said ‘my Mom and Dad would like to see you,‘” Fiega said. “I said ‘I’m working,’ and he said ‘no you have to come over.’ So I went over there and that’s when they told me. I was in total disbelief. I cried, I hugged them.”
The Lucky Stop owners will also receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket provided by the state lottery commission.
Fiega also provided the family with an additional reward and said she plans to save the rest of her winnings for retirement.