iStock/Thinkstock(NEWPORT, Ore.) — An Oregon man recently discovered a year-old winning lotto ticket in his home office that he was cleaning, according to the Oregon Lottery.
The man — Joemel Panisa — found the ticket just eight days before it expired, the Oregon Lottery said in a news release on Wednesday. The ticket was worth $1 million.
Panisa was able to claim the ticket just in the nick of time, and he is officially now the fourth Mega Millions $1 million winner since the game was offered in Oregon in 2010, the Oregon State Lottery said.
Panisa purchased the winning ticket last year on Jan. 15, 2016, at a mini market along a highway in the city of Newport, Oregon, the state’s lottery agency said.
Panisa then placed the ticket in an envelope and put it in his home office, where it was left forgotten for a whole year, the Oregon Lottery added.
But “thanks to the snow and ice storm” that recently hit the state, Panisa was motivated to clean the office and stumbled upon the ticket again this past Monday, Jan. 9, the Oregon Lottery said. Panisa claimed it the same day, just before the ticket was set to expire on Jan. 17, 2017.
The mini market that sold the winning ticket will receive a 1 percent bonus, or $10,000, the Oregon State Lottery said.
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