Jeff Heinig of Harrison, Mich., said he tossed his Michigan Lottery Lucky For Life ticket in the trash when he checked the numbers and saw they didn't match, but he suspected he had made a mistake the following day when he checked the numbers again and saw some familiar digits.

Heinig fished the ticket out of the trash and rechecked it, realizing he had looked at the wrong result and tossed it away before the numbers had even been drawn. The ticket matched all five white balls drawn, 03-04-08-16-27, earning him a prize of $25,000 a year for life.

4. Nearly lost in a move

A 33-year-old Laurel, Md., woman told Maryland Lottery officials she had purchased a Powerball ticket for Sept. 7 drawing at True Convenience Store in Bryans Road, but the ticket ended up forgotten in a stack of papers.

The woman, who is only an occasional lottery player, said she was preparing to move weeks later when her mother went through the stack of papers and decided to check the ticket, which turned out to be a $50,000 winner.

5. Hidden by sneaky cat

A 67-year-old Baltimore woman told Maryland Lottery officials her Powerball tickets for the Feb. 23 drawing had been placed on her nightstand for safe keeping, but some of them ended up lost for two months.

The woman said she found the missing tickets when she was doing some cleaning and discovered her cat had stashed them behind her bed. She checked the tickets and discovered one was a $50,000 winner.

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