REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SAN BERNARDINO - The belatedly crowned winner of a 23 million USD California lottery jackpot says she had stuffed the lucky ticket in her car and left it there forgotten for months, until a surveillance camera photo of the ticket's purchase surfaced on the Internet.
Only when she recognized her daughter in the picture, which state lottery officials had publicly circulated in a desperate attempt to locate the missing winner, did Julie Cervera (69 years) realize to her amazement that she was a multimillionaire.
For Cervera, a resident of the high-desert town of Victorville who has been on disability for 20 years and described herself as broke, the unexpected turn of fortune could not have come at a more opportune time.
"I have maybe a dollar in my pocket, they just shut off my cable, my electric bill is 600 USD and my (bank) account is also overdrawn," Cervera told reporters on Friday, a day after coming forward to claim her prize.
Cervera won a 23 million USD lottery drawing but she said opted to take the money in a single, lesser lump-sum payment, which lottery officials said will amount to nearly 18 million USD before taxes, rather than receiving the full jackpot parcelled out in instalments. Cervera, who has adopted two boys with special needs, said that she wants to share the winnings with her children, including Charliena, and her grandchildren.
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