A television news story and an old shirt netted a man $24 million.
How does that happen?
Jimmie Smith, a retired security guard, said that he saw a story about the lottery and that made him remember where he stashed his tickets.
He had stuffed them into an old shirt, and when he started looking at them back on May 23, he found a winner, two days before it would have expired, The Associated Press reported.
The New York Lottery released his name Wednesday after officials completed a review of the ticket.
He had bought the ticket at a shop in Tribeca, The AP reported.
Smith has been buying tickets in both New York and New Jersey since the 1960s, but says he doesn’t rush to check his numbers. He does it when he gets around to it.
He’s taking the jackpot over a 26-year payout.
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