He had two winning ‘Lucky for Life’ lottery tickets — and misplaced one, officials say

A lucky Washington, D.C., man narrowly avoided missing out on a second $500,000 cash prize after he couldn’t find his second winning ticket, lottery officials said.

The man hit the $25,000 a year for life jackpot twice in the Aug. 12 drawing in the “Lucky for Life” game, the D.C. Lottery said in a news release.

“I always get two tickets, and I always pick my own numbers. That’s my winning strategy,” the 57-year-old environmental volunteer told lottery officials.

But this time it almost didn’t pay off when one of the two winning tickets went missing, lottery officials said.

“I saw that the first ticket was a winner but couldn’t find the other ticket,” the man told lottery officials.

He claimed his first $500,000 cash prize Aug. 14 and kept mum about his misfortune, officials said.

“After searching through old tickets, I found it and let out a big sigh of relief,” the man said. He returned to the lottery office Sept. 19 to claim his second $500,000 cash prize.

He plans to use the money to renovate his home and buy a new truck to assist with his volunteer efforts.

The winning tickets were purchased at Anacostia Mobil in Southeast D.C., lottery officials said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 3:42 PM with the headline "He had two winning ‘Lucky for Life’ lottery tickets — and misplaced one, officials say."