Woman Gets $100,000 Lottery Prize After Finding Ticket in Drawer Just Before Deadline

Just days before it would have expired, a Massachusetts woman got lucky when she found a Mass Cash lottery ticket tucked away in her drawer. The winning ticket bought at a Chicopee store matched all five numbers - 6-11-18-24-26 - in the May 1 drawing.

"My son saw it on the news and said, 'Ma, you got a ticket in that drawer,' and we looked at the numbers and they were right," said Margot Garstka in a release from the Massachusetts Lottery.

For selling the winning ticket worth $100,000, the Big Y store on Memorial Drive got a $1,000 bonus. These bonuses are common for Massachusetts stores that sell winning tickets.

The winner picked up her prize at the West Springfield center. After taxes come out, she'll get a bit less than the full amount.

Mass Cash tickets cost just $1 each. Players choose five numbers from 1 to 35 for drawings held daily. Unlike Powerball or Mega Millions where jackpots grow, this game always has a $100,000 top prize.

When tickets aren't claimed, the money goes to local programs. The state shares this money among its 351 towns and cities. This puts millions into community budgets each year.

Rather than letting her ticket become one of the unclaimed prizes that fund state programs, the winner plans to save some money and share some with her great-grandchildren.

Lots of big prizes go unclaimed every year. Sometimes, winners come forward near deadlines after seeing news stories about forgotten winning tickets.

People have one year from the drawing date to claim prizes. Lottery officials remind ticket buyers to check their tickets during this time - a small purchase could turn into big money.