Posted on 01/06/2004 2:49:28 AM PST by Dane
$162 million Mega Millions lottery ticket reported lost Ohio woman files report with police over unclaimed prize
By Joe Milicia
Associated Press
CLEVELAND - A woman has told police she picked the winning numbers for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot but lost the ticket before the drawing, according to a police report.
Elecia Battle of Cleveland told police she dropped her purse as she left the Quick Shop Food Mart last week after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing.
The Ohio Lottery said that the winning ticket was sold at the store in South Euclid, about 15 miles east of Cleveland.
Battle, 40, would not talk about the specifics of how she lost it. She planned a news conference today to announce a reward.
"I'm praying that someone finds the ticket, brings it forward and gets rewarded and from there we all live happily ever after," said Battle, who cried as she talked.
She and her husband have seven children, some from previous marriages.
"To have something in your hand and have it slip out is a tough thing to swallow," said Jimmy Battle, who has two jobs.
After news of Battle's police report spread Monday night, several people wielding flashlights walked through snow and braved frigid temperatures to try to find the ticket in the store parking lot.
"I decided to come back to see if I could find the winning ticket," said LaVerne Coleman, 57, who says she would keep the winnings if she found the ticket.
Police say Battle was in tears when she came to the station Friday to file the report and did not hesitate when asked to write down the winning numbers.
"We don't believe that she's fabricating it, but there's no real way of knowing," Lt. Kevin Nieter said Monday.
He said information Battle knew about when the ticket was bought and how the numbers were picked make her story credible. She told police that the numbers - 12, 18, 21, 32 and 46 and Mega Ball 49 - represented family birthdays and ages.
The winning ticket was sold to someone who chose the numbers, not someone who let the machine pick.
Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said that if someone else came in with the ticket, Battle could try to get a temporary restraining order in court to block the winnings from being paid.
Well, nobody claimed the prize, and she knew that the store that the winning ticket was purchased from was the store that she purchased her ticket at.
She lost the ticket, and she is assuming that the winning ticket was the one she lost.
If it's even in the parking lot. It get's windy in Cleveland, it could be in Lake Erie or it could have disintegrated with all the rain. If her story is true(that she dropped the ticket) that ticket has had to face the elements for nearly a week.
From the video I saw on the news, it looks like these tickets are printed out using thermal paper (like many cash recipts) rather than a "dot matrix" type of printing on a firmer card stock, like here in Fla. Those thermal printed recipts tend to fade quickly on thier own (try proving a purchase at a tax audit with one 5 years later) so I would think that being exposed to harsh winter elements would make this thing un-readable even if it is found.
This is a ton of money...and there are rules. NO ticket..NO claim. I just hate it when that happens.
sw
Finders keepers, losers....morons.
the owner says the camera was broken at the time
There will definately be more later. Ms. Battle has hired a lawyer.
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