John Butler with a ceremonial check commemorating his Massachusetts Lottery win.
This $100,000 windfall is one of the many reasons it pays to keep up with the news.
A winning lottery ticket was gathering dust for a year in the back of a drawer at John Butler's house in Boston's West Roxbury neighborhood. He didn't realize it was there until under two weeks before it was set to expire.
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With 11 days to go, Butler's wife saw a news story about the expiring $100,000 prize from the March 17 Mass Cash drawing and mentioned it to him, according to the Massachusetts Lottery. So he searched his house and found the ticket he'd bought, then put away ahead of a trip to Florida.
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Butler claimed the prize — won with numbers picked based on birthdays — on Monday and plans to invest the winnings into his house.
"We are thrilled that Mr. Butler's wife saw the Lottery announcement in the news about the unclaimed ticket! What a great reminder to keep your tickets in a safe place and always make sure to check them," State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg said in a statement. "You will never know when you might be as lucky as the Butlers."
The winning ticket was purchased at a Star Market in Dedham, which received $1,000 for selling it.
