New Jersey Grandfather Finds $24M Lottery Ticket In Old Shirt

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — It was a race against time: find the owner of a $24.1 million winning lottery ticket before it expired. But lovers of positive news will be happy to know that the New York Lottery’s quest to give away a fortune ended with a new future for a father of two and grandfather of 12 in Essex County, New Jersey.

After an unknown ticket holder hit the multi-million jackpot on May 25, 2016, New York Lottery officials began a search for the lucky-but-unaware winner. It was a search that lasted right up to May of the following year, right before the ticket was due to expire after the one-year deadline. When lottery officials began renewed efforts to find the ticket holder, several local news outlets picked up the story.

And that was how Jimmie Smith, 68, of East Orange, learned that he and his family were millionaires.

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Smith, a retired security officer, said a segment on the evening news alerted him to the lottery’s search. The broadcast inspired the Garden State resident to search a closet where he had hung an old, favorite shirt with a pocket full of unchecked tickets.

“I ended up with a stack - a pile of tickets - including the one they were talking about on the news,” Smith said. “I stood there for a minute thinking, ‘Do I see what I think I see?’ I had to stick my head out the window and breathe in some fresh air. I was in serious doubt. I really had to convince myself this was real.”

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Smith – who bought his lucky ticket at Renu Sales in Tribeca - said he’s been buying tickets in New York City and in his home state since the 1960s, but has never been in a rush to check any of them.

“I always told myself, ‘I’ll check them when I have the time,’” Smith said.

Smith said he needed some time after finding the $24 million winner “to clear out some cobwebs” before making the trip to the New York Lottery’s lower Manhattan Customer Service Center to claim the ticket, lottery officials said.

The East Orange resident’s patience is extending to his prize claim; he picked to have his $24.1 million windfall distributed in laddered payments over 26 years.

Smith said after things settle down, he plans to have an “all-family discussion” about what to do with the windfall, lottery officials said.

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Photo: New York Lottery