PA Woman in Hunt for $2.5 Million Lottery Ticket Accidently Donated to Charity
Mildred Simoneriluto is experiencing the race of her lifetime. The 76-year-old resident of Murrysville, Pa., is desperately looking for a misplaced lottery ticket valued at an astonishing $2 million ahead of its expiration on May 8.
The problem is that the ticket could be located anywhere globally since Mildred placed it in a jacket she donated to Vietnam Veterans of America. The nonprofit organization allocates donations throughout the nation and even beyond the US borders.
Simoneriluto bought the ticket in May 2024 at a Shop n’ Save located in Murrysville. When she discovered that the ticket was a winner, two weeks later, it was already too late. The jacket along with its contents worth $2.5 million had been taken away.
Who could have imagined that carrying out a straightforward act of kindness would result in such poor karma?
"I was stupefied. There are no words for it, there’s no expression. How can I get it back?” Simoneriluto asked Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
She expressed to the news channel that the missing ticket has haunted her for the past year, as it could have changed her life permanently.
Who Possesses Mildred's Wealth?
As Pennsylvania Lottery officials mandate that players must present a physical ticket to claim their winnings, Simoneriluto is facing the harsh truth that a fraudster could appear to claim the prize. Alternatively, if there are no claimants by May 8, the funds will remain unawarded.
She’s optimistic that the media attention on her situation could assist in finding the lost ticket. It’s a Cash 5 ticket featuring the winning numbers 14, 22, 33, 35, and 38. Does this sound familiar?
"What else can I do?” she asked Action News 4. “Cry out loud and hope that something will happen positive on my end.”
Simoneriluto’s plight mirrors other instances of lost lottery prizes. In 2001, British duo Martyn and Kay Tott missed out on a £3 million National Lottery reward after losing their ticket.
Although they demonstrated that they had bought the winning numbers, lottery regulations mandated the couple to present the actual ticket, and the Totts received nothing.
Finders, Keepers
The regulations vary in Canada. In 2012, Kathryn Jones, a woman from Ontario, purchased a ticket that she quickly misplaced and ignored.
She had no idea the ticket had won CA$50 million until lottery officials arrived at her home with the exciting news, having tracked her down through the lottery retailer's surveillance footage.
In 2005, an 86-year-old man named Edward St. John discovered a $1 million ticket in the garbage in Massachusetts.
The initial owner contested St. John’s assertion to the prize, but the Massachusetts Lottery determined that a lottery ticket functions like legal cash — having it is sufficient to establish ownership.