Community Corner
Mercer Co. Couple Discovers $1 Million Lottery Ticket In Junk Drawer After 5 Months
The couple left the lottery ticket in their junk drawer, retrieving it after five months.
MERCER COUNTY, NJ – A forgotten New Year’s Eve lottery ticket turned into a winning surprise for a Mercer County couple.
A West Trenton couple found a $1 million lottery ticket sitting their kitchen junk drawer that held batteries, rubber bands, and forgotten pens— for nearly five months.
The couple's life-changing discovery began with a routine New Year's Eve purchase at the Speedymart Food Store in West Trenton, where they bought several Mega Millions tickets to ring in 2025.
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Like many lottery players, they tucked the tickets away at home and went about their daily lives, the slips of paper forgotten among household clutter.
It wasn't until a day in May that fate intervened when they casually opened the drawer.
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“I was in the house and I just opened the drawer and I saw the tickets. I decided to get them checked,” the player said. “I scanned them. One said ‘not a winner,’ and then another ‘not a winner,’ and then I scanned a ticket that said ‘winner.’”
Even then, the magnitude of their good fortune wasn't immediately clear. After returning home with the winning ticket, the couple verified their numbers against the official New Jersey Lottery website, discovering they had matched all five white balls—a feat that seemed almost too good to be true.
"I thought maybe $1,000. Or $10,000," the winner said, still processing the shock of the discovery. "I couldn't believe it—$1 million?!?"
The timing of their find was fortunate in more ways than one. While New Jersey Lottery winners have a full year from the drawing date to claim their prizes before tickets expire, the couple had unknowingly let nearly five months pass with their million-dollar ticket collecting dust.
For this Mercer County family, the windfall represents more than personal gain—it's an opportunity to invest in the next generation.
“For us, it’s more about helping the children, making sure they don’t have debt,” the couple said.
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