Sure lady, whatever you say.

Woman claims $162 million Mega Millions ticket lost

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CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland woman has told police she picked the winning numbers for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot but lost the ticket before the drawing, according to a police report.
Elecia Battle told police she dropped her purse as she left the Quick Shop Food Mart in suburban South Euclid last week after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing.
The Ohio Lottery said last week that the winning ticket was sold at the store, about 15 miles east of Cleveland.
“I feel like crap right now,” said Battle, who cried while speaking to The Associated Press at her home Monday night.
Police say Battle also was in tears when she came to the station Friday to file the report and did not hesitate when asked to write down the winning numbers.
“We don’t believe that she’s fabricating it, but there’s no real way of knowing other than going on her word,” Lt. Kevin Nieter told Cleveland’s WEWS-TV on Monday.
Nieter said information Battle knew about when the ticket was bought and how the numbers were picked make her story credible. She told police that the numbers — 12, 18, 21, 32 and 46 and Mega Ball 49 — represented family birthdays and ages.
The winning ticket was sold to someone who chose the numbers, not someone who let the machine pick.
Messages seeking comment left Monday with the police department were not immediately returned.
Battle, 40, is a pharmacy trainer for Rite-Aid. She would not talk about the specifics of when she bought the ticket, how she lost it or even if she was a regular lottery player. She said her attorney, Sheldon Starke, would have a news conference Tuesday to announce a reward.
“I’m praying that someone finds the ticket, brings it forward and gets rewarded and from there we all live happily ever after. I’m just praying it has a positive ending,” she said.
Her husband, Jimmy Battle, has two jobs, including a paper route. The couple has seven children — some from previous marriages — ranging in age from 13 to 30.
“To have something in your hand and have it slip out is a tough thing to swallow,” said Jimmy Battle, 48.
Nieter said Elecia Battle may be out of luck if someone else picked up the lone winning ticket.
“Whoever has the ticket has the right to stake the claim to the winning jackpot. You can file all the police reports you want but it’s not going to help,” he said.
After news of Battle’s police report spread Monday night, about 30 people wielding flashlights walked through snow and braved frigid temperatures to try to find the ticket in the store parking lot and nearby bushes.
“I decided to come back to see if I could find the winning ticket,” said LaVerne Coleman, 57. The South Euclid woman said she would keep the millions if she found the ticket.
The police report says officers tried to see if Battle showed up on the store’s surveillance cameras but the store owner said the cameras were broken.

 
How crappy is she going to feel if someone finds it and cashes it in?

I think if I found it, and it can be proved she bought it, I would give her some cash for her troubles. I think a hundred dollars would make her feel better.

Winner Claims $162M Lottery Ticket Said To Be Lost
Police Say It\'s Finders Keepers For Missing Ticket

POSTED: 7:21 a.m. EST January 6, 2004
UPDATED: 10:33 a.m. EST January 6, 2004

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Ohio Lottery officials say someone has turned in a valid, winning ticket for the $162 million Mega Millions lotto jackpot.

Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen wouldn\'t say whether the winner is a woman who filed a police report saying she lost the ticket last week.

Cohen said the winner will be revealed at an 11:30 a.m. Eastern news conference at the state lottery headquarters in Cleveland.  


The announcement came after Elecia Battle, (pictured, left) said that she dropped the winning ticket in the parking lot outside the South Euclid store where she bought it.

Battle told police she dropped her purse and didn\'t realize the ticket had fallen out until after the drawing.

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Police said it\'s too bad, because whoever turns up with the ticket is considered the winner. But lottery officials said Battle could try to get a temporary restraining order to keep somebody else from getting the money.

Millionaire wanna-bes gathered outside the store Monday searching for the ticket. People looked under bushes and in trash.

"For $162 million, yeah, it\'s worth being out here probably all night," said Jim Allen.

However, Battle believes the ticket still belongs to her.

 "It\'s my ticket. I lost it. I will be more than glad to reward you," Battle said.

Battle\'s attorney is expected to make a statement about the reward on Wednesday.

After the final tally, officials said the ticket is worth $162 million and a one-time cash payment of $95 million.

Battle said the numbers are significant in her life.


12-18 is her son\'s birthday.
32 is her other son\'s birthday reversed.
36 is year her sister was born.
49 is her husband\'s age.
21 was picked for luck.

Lol @ the hundred dollars comment

I\'d give her a million and tell her to start using birth control.

[Kurt Angle]

I never let my lottery tickets out of my sight, you never know when your numbers will come up.

Someone said another lady found it and is trying to claim the money and the first lady\'s lawyers are doing all they can.  HA!

my source is my Bio teacher, so who knows what\'s going on.

Yeah some other lady has the ticket and turned it in... this is some funny crap - the lady who has turned it in should bitch slap the one who claims they lost it if she really bought it.  

Knowing my temper if someone tried to claim they lost a lottery ticket I rightfully bought - I would have to use all of my winnings on attorney fees.  

On another note I was waiting to see what color the person was who would turn in the ticket, I already had imagined the race card being used if person who turned it the ticket was anything other than black.  Is it just me or does that woman who claims she lost the ticket have the expression that she is trying to run scam in that photo with her holding her purse open?

[Titan]

That really sucks for her. She had wealth in her hands and now she lost it. She must really feel like shit.

Bah. She should have signed the back of it. Everyone should if they play the lottery. Just in case there is a lost ticket, and it is a winner.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/elecialotto1.html

I picked 49 cause my husband is 49...............in 5 years  :rolleyes:

[Paul2]

Okay, it turns out Gigashadow is right that she\'s black and it turns out to be a fraud after all.
But in cause this could turn into a flaming thread, i would say "No offense."

12-18 is her son\'s birthday.
32 is her other son\'s birthday reversed.
36 is year her sister was born.
49 is her husband\'s age.
21 was picked for luck

bah, random coindidences

[Titan]

I knew from the start she was probably lying. The whole thing seemed kind of fishy to begin with.

Originally posted by Paul2
Okay, it turns out Gigashadow is right that she\'s black and it turns out to be a fraud after all.
But in cause this could turn into a flaming thread, i would say "No offense."

Why should I say no offense?  The true winner was black and I am happy that the truth came out.  Just looking at Battle\'s in that picture gave me reason to doubt her.  Just look at the look on her face... :rolleyes:

If it was a white woman posing the same way and making the same claim I would have said the same thing.

This just keeps getting better... though she admitted she lied.

Thursday, January 08, 2004
 
CLEVELAND — A woman admitted through tears Thursday that she lied about losing the winning ticket for a $162 million lottery prize, saying: "I wanted to win so badly for my kids and my family."

"I wanted to win," Battle said. "The numbers were so overwhelming. I did buy a ticket and I lost it. I wanted to win so bad for my kids and my family. I apologize."

The Cleveland woman had filed a police report saying she lost the ticket, possibly when she dropped her purse outside a convenience store. The lottery dismissed the claim and declared Rebecca Jemison, 34, the winner on Tuesday.

Police Lt. Kevin Nietert said Thursday he expected Battle to be charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail.

Battle apologized to her husband, her lawyer and Jemison, saying she wanted to use the money to help her family and recently laid-off Cleveland police officers.

Yeah I bet she wanted to help the police officers
:rolleyes:

I hope they give her some jail time.