In a move sure to go down in history as one of the greatest near misses of all time, a couple in North Attleborough, Massachusetts threw away a million dollar-winning lottery ticket.
According to WPTV, Joseph and Joanne Zagami of North Attleborough bought the $5 ticket from a vending machine while doing their grocery shopping. They stuck the ticket down in a grocery bag and headed home. Once there, they put their groceries away, threw away the (nearly-) empty grocery bag, and went on about their business, forgetting all about the ticket.
The next day, Joseph asked his wife if she had scratched off that lottery ticket they bought. She had not. They went searching for it.
Finally, they found the ticket in the trash, mixed in with other empty grocery bags. They scratched the ticket and revealed that they had won $1 million.
The couple opted for the one-time lump sum payment of $650,000. They plan to pay teases on the money, pay off their mortgage and other bills, and to take a vacation.
Other recent lottery news, we reported here about a man who had cheated another out of his winning ticket six years ago. The true winner had come in to the store where the thief worked, asked to check his ticket, and was told that it only had won $5,000. But the winner was high on crack at the time, and susceptible to scam. The ticket had really won $5 million. The thief even managed to only give him $4,000, claiming the store took a $1,000 share for handling and selling him the ticket. Years later, just before the time expired for claiming the ticket, the thief went for the money. But the real winner found out and pressed charges. The thief has been sentenced to the maximum jail sentence.