Lottery player wins big with numbers ‘straight out of a dream’ — then ticket vanishes

A Maryland woman won a big prize playing numbers that “came straight out of a dream” on a lottery ticket.

There was one problem: The Joppa woman’s ticket vanished, Maryland Lottery officials said in a Nov. 6 news release.

Months passed as the woman “searched and searched” for her lost Pick 5 ticket for the May 19 drawing, lottery officials said.

Then, finally, as she searched between the seats in her car, she found her ticket with a winning combination of 96221, lottery officials said.

The relieved Harford County woman headed to lottery headquarters to claim her $50,000 prize with her adult son, lottery officials said.

She said she plans to tuck away her prize in the bank and “save it for hard times.”

Harford County is about a 35-mile drive northeast from Baltimore.

This story was originally published November 6, 2024 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Lottery player wins big with numbers ‘straight out of a dream’ — then ticket vanishes."

Daniella Segura

McClatchy DC

Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.