Bowling Green Man Claims $50,000 Powerball Ticket Believed to Have been Thrown Away

A Bowling Green resident breathes a sigh of relief

It was a rollercoaster of emotions for a Bowling Green couple. After losing a winning Kentucky Lottery Powerball ticket worth $50,000, they can breathe a sigh of relief as their paper ticket to fortune has been found safe.

Beginning of a long quest

Mark Perdue, a local resident, bought a Powerball ticket for the drawing scheduled on October 30, 2023, from AM Express in Bowling Green. A week later, he got wind of the exciting news. “About a week later, I go back to the store to buy a Diet Mountain Dew when the owner tells me, ‘Congratulations,’” Perdue recalled. “I was bewildered and asked, ‘for what?’ And she said, ‘You won the lottery.’

This started their long and at times agonizing search.

The worrying search

With the winning ticket nowhere to be found, both Perdue and his wife feared it may have been thrown away. “I’ve been beating myself up for three months thinking I threw this ticket away,” his wife confessed. “I did throw a ticket away, but it was an older ticket. Then I convinced myself maybe it was this ticket.”

Fortune favors the patient

As President of Kiriu USA, Perdue had a visitor from another plant in early February. The visitor was going to use a company vehicle, which sent Perdue out to inspect the condition of the car. That’s when he found what had been lost for months. He said, “I look down and saw it,”.

Perdue added, “I picked it up and I saw October 30th and I said, ‘That’s my ticket!’”

A bright future

After a rather dramatic turn of events, the couple showed up at the lottery headquarters the following day, the winning ticket in hand, and walked away with a check for $36,000 after taxes. They plan to use the windfall to settle their bills and perhaps fund an enjoyable trip as a celebration of their incredible fortune.

Words of advice

This story serves as a reminder to all lottery players out there to keep their tickets safe and to double-check their numbers. The windfall a lottery can bring is life-changing, so make sure you do not lose your chance!