Michigan man drove with $2 million lottery ticket for months before realizing he won

A Michigan man drove around with a $2 million winning scratch-off lottery ticket for four months before realizing he’d won, Michigan Lottery officials announced.

The lucky 29-year-old Isabella County man, who decided to stay anonymous, purchased his winning ticket from the E-Z Mart at 550 East Wright Ave. in Shepherd, which is located about 10 miles southeast of Mt. Pleasant.

“Every so often, I will stop and buy an instant ticket after work,” the player said. “About four months ago, I bought this Money ticket, but I didn’t see any winnings on it when I scratched it, so I threw it in my center console with some other non-winning tickets.”

The player took a few tickets to the store and grabbed the ones in his center console when he did so.

“When I scanned the Money ticket, I got a message to file a claim at the Lottery office. I went back out to my truck to look the ticket over and realized I’d matched number 13. When I revealed the ‘$2 MIL’ symbol underneath, I was speechless. It is a miracle this ticket didn’t end up in the trash!”

The player chose to receive his prize as a one-time payment of about $1.3 million, according to Michigan Lottery officials.

He plans to invest his winnings.

“I don’t plan on making any big purchases with the money, but rather use it as a nice financial cushion for our family,” the 29-year-old said.

Since the Money scratch-off game was launched in March, players have won more than $47 million.