Va. woman claims lotto prize 4 hours before expiration

WASHINGTON — As the clock was ticking on an unclaimed winning lottery ticket, an Alexandria woman discovered she was the winner and claimed her prize four hours before it expired.

Karen Gentry didn’t know the lotto ticket she bought May 2 was worth $100,000 until she saw a news report on Tuesday about the unclaimed prize, the Virginia Lotto says in a news release.

“So I looked, and there it was!” she told Lottery officials. “I called my husband and he said, ‘Yeah, right.'”

Gentry, from Alexandria, told lottery officials it had been sitting in a box in her kitchen for six months.

By law, lotto tickets in Virginia expire after 180 days of the drawing. Gentry’s Virginia Cash 5 ticket was set to expire at 5 p.m. She claimed it at 1 p.m.

Gentry, who works in carpet sales, said she had no immediate plans for her winnings.

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