Elderly woman donates coat with winning $2.5M-lottery ticket in pocket

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Most of us have fantasized about winning the lottery and listing all the things we would do with that money.

Now, imagine actually having your hands on a winning ticket — one worth $2.5 million — only to lose it.

Mildred Simoneriluto, of Monroeville, Pa., has been trying to find the ticket she accidentally left in the pocket of a jacket she donated, to no avail.

Simoneriluto purchased the lottery ticket in May 2024 at a grocery store in nearby Murrysville and realized two weeks later that she had the winning numbers to a $2.5 million jackpot — but couldn’t find it.

The 76-year-old retraced her steps and realized it was in the pocket of a jacket she had donated — along with other clothing — to Vietnam Veterans of America which, according WTAE, hands out its donations across the country and even outside of the United States.

“I was stupefied; there are no words for it, there’s no expression,” she lamented to the outlet.

“How can I get it back?”

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Simoneriluto’s winning numbers are burned in her brain — 14, 22, 33, 35, 38 — but she was informed she only has until May 8 to claim the cash before the ticket’s one-year expiry date.

The woman tried to plead her case to Pennsylvania Lottery authorities but was told she must have the lottery ticket, which could be anywhere at this point.

Simoneriluto bemoaned that if the ticket is claimed, it will likely be someone else turning it in and reaping the rewards.

“What else can I do?” she asked. “Cry out loud and hope that something will happen positive on my end?”