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$50,000 Powerball ticket claimed after being hidden by cat for two months

By Ben Hooper
A Maryland woman claimed a $50,000 lottery prize two months after the drawing due to her ticket being hidden by her cat. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
A Maryland woman claimed a $50,000 lottery prize two months after the drawing due to her ticket being hidden by her cat. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

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April 29 (UPI) -- A Maryland lottery player claimed a $50,000 Powerball prize two months after the drawing and offered an explanation for the delay -- the ticket had been hidden by her cat.

The 67-year-old Baltimore woman told Maryland Lottery officials the $2 quick-pick ticket was one of several Powerball tickets she purchased for the Feb. 23 drawing at the Giant store on West 41st Street in Baltimore.

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The woman said she put the tickets on her nightstand for safekeeping.

"When I buy Lottery tickets, I never watch the drawings or even check to see if I won until a few days later," she said. "What I didn't know is that after my cat knocked some papers off my nightstand, a few of my tickets ended up falling behind my bed. I didn't see the additional papers behind my bed until I did some spring cleaning."

The woman said she used the Maryland Lottery app to check the tickets.

"To my surprise, one of them was a winner!"

The woman visited lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim her $50,000 prize.

"I don't have big plans for the money," she said. "I will pay off some home improvement projects and donate 10 percent to my church. I will use some of this money to help people."

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