WEBSTER COUNTY, Ky. — A man from Dixon, Kentucky is in disbelief after he discovered he purchased a $50,000 scratch-off ticket just days after his mother passed away.
Larry Duncan told Kentucky Lottery officials that he doesn't normally play the lottery, but something told him to buy a $50 Millionaire Club Scratch-off that day.
Duncan said his mother had just passed away a week before he found the winning ticket. He had family in town visiting for the funeral service and stopped at the Dixon Marathon where he picked up a few scratch-off tickets.
“I don’t want to sound crazy, but I was saying, ‘Mama, you’re going to lead me to a winner,’” Duncan said.
He said he initially won $55, then headed back home to be with his family. The following day, while food was being prepared, Duncan said a key ingredient in a special pecan dessert dip was missing so he headed back to the Dixon Marathon.
“I thought, we need some graham crackers,” Duncan said. “I’m going to run up there and get a ticket, too! I was still talking to my mama, and I said, ‘Mama, help me out.’”
To his surprise, Duncan found the ticket he had been looking for. He scratched off the ticket to reveal the $50,000 top prize.
“Something’s going on here,” Duncan said. “It was just shocking to me; you just don’t expect it.”
Duncan said once he returned home, he handed a bag with the graham crackers and the winning ticket inside to his sister in-law. A self-proclaimed prankster, Duncan said his family and wife, Yolanda, couldn’t believe the big win.
“I walked in, and I was white as a ghost,” Duncan said. “I’m kind of a big jokester so she [his sister-law] thought I was pulling her leg, I used to get those fake lottery tickets all the time.”
That night, the couple drove to Louisville and stayed the night to claim their winnings at the Kentucky Lottery headquarters the next morning.
As for the winnings, Duncan said he already knows how he’s going to spend it.
“We have a 2014 Camaro and I already told her, ‘I’m buying a ’24,’” Duncan said. “My intention was to buy one with or without, but this makes it a lot easier.”
Larry and Yolanda walked away with a check for $35,750. Dixon Marathon will receive $500 for selling the winning ticket.
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