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MISSING $3.4 MILLION LOTTO TICKET CLAIMED AFTER THREE MONTHS!
August 18, 2009
OLYMPIA— A retired restaurant cook from Yakima is the Lottery’s latest millionaire—after waiting three months to claim a $3.4 million winning Lotto ticket. Curtis Eldred of Yakima came to Lottery headquarters in Olympia today to hand over his ticket, which he kept carefully hidden in a sealed plastic bag under a floor mat in a small storage shed in his back yard.
The winning ticket was from the May 11th drawing. After that drawing, word in Yakima quickly spread. The next morning, Curtis read a story in the Yakima Herald Republic newspaper. "I started getting light-headed and my heart was beating pretty hard and I said, 'Come on now—don’t have a heart attack,'" Curtis recalled. Quiet but deliberate, Curtis told his mother, but no one else. Back at work at the Heritage Restaurant in Toppenish, co-workers and customers were all talking about the winning Lottery ticket 'someone' in Yakima had won—but Curtis never revealed his secret. Co-workers speculated that the missing ticket had been lost and Curtis never broke his secret.
Weeks turned into months. Curtis pondered about his ticket and read about the search for the missing winner in newspaper articles as the months clicked by. He even kept the clippings—for a day when he knew he would claim his prize. Cautious, he planned his retirement, but still kept his secret. He even attended a family reunion but stayed tight-lipped. Finally, he mentioned to a relative that he needed to go to Olympia—and decided to tell his sister. Today, he and several relatives walked into the Lottery office and left with a check for a cash option payout of $1.24 million.
Curtis says he will help out family members hit hard by the economy. Afterward, he plans to focus on his artwork and intends to buy a house.
The winning ticket was sold at Cruisin' Bills Convenience Store, located at 702 West Yakima Avenue. For their efforts, Cruisin' Bills received a $34,000 retailer selling bonus.
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