A Chicago man found something much better than his favorite cookie in the cookie jar – a lottery ticket worth $4.85 million.
Ricardo Cerezo discovered that he has become a millionaire when his wife urged him to check the lotto tickets they had stashed away in their cookie jar. She was going to throw them out but told him to check their value.
"The last ticket said, 'file a claim.' Not a congratulations, not an amount, just said 'file a claim," Cerezo said about checking them at a nearby gas station, NBC Chicago notes.
He said he called the Illinois Lottery and found out he had won on the ticket he purchased back in February. USA Today notes there were 11 tickets that weren’t checked in the cookie jar.
Cerezo and his wife are reeling in a joyous moment after they lost their 14 year old daughter to a string of seizures. "The honest first reaction was mammoth regret. Regret because our youngest wasn't here to enjoy this," he said after winning.
Furthermore, the win comes at an opportune time for the family, who was facing foreclosure on their home.
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