On July 17, 1991, Janet Valenti, a single mother from New York, unintentionally threw away her $12 million (€11.3 million) Lotto Ticket at J.N.J. Delicatessen in Graniteville, where she had previously purchased a $1 lotto ticket. A 77-year-old woman who unintentionally threw away a winning Lottery ticket worth an incredible $12 million (€11.3 million) more than 30 years ago has recreated her life as a single mother.
Janet Valenti, a New Yorker, was raising her two teenage children, Kevin and Jennifer, following the untimely death of her husband, Bruno, in 1984. In an attempt to change their lives, she decided to buy a $1 lottery ticket at J.N.J. Delicatessen in Graniteville on July 17, 1991. She thought she hadn’t won, so she put the tickets in the trash at home as she prepared to spend the weekend at her friend’s house.
She had no idea that weekend that she had just thrown away a sum of money that may have changed her life. When Janet saw the winning numbers, she instantly knew she had won. A friend had told her that a winning ticket had been sold in Staten Island. The mother hastened home to search through her trash for the ticket, but she was unsuccessful. Valenti told the Staten Island Advance, “My next-door neighbor, who has never in her life, the whole time I lived there, ever put my garbage out for collection, she did.”
The trash can was filled and her hopes of changing her life for her two children were dashed. When she promptly contacted attorneys to attempt to clarify the error, she was informed that a real lottery ticket was required in order to collect the award. She was also informed that the CCTV footage from the merchant showing her purchasing the ticket would not be useful. Valenti remembered to the Staten Island Advance, “I was a wreck.” “I was sick for a long time over it.”
The winning ticket expired on July 17, 1992, one year after it was purchased, in accordance with state lottery regulations. After going unclaimed, the $12 million (€11.3 million) reward was subsequently given back to the state lottery fund.
Also read: Who Won The Mega Millions?
