Lottery Winner Did Not Know He Had Winning Ticket For Almost Three Weeks

Waynesville, NC – A Waynesville, North Carolina man who won a Carolina Cash 5 lottery jackpot said he didn’t realize for almost three weeks that he had won.

Wade Haskett did not check his ticket from the November 6 cash 5 drawing until November 25 when he found out that he won $118,182.

Haskett said that, in addition to Carolina Cash 5, he plays Powerball and Mega Millions but never expected to win.

“I didn’t really expect to win anything,” said Haskett. “I figured it was going to be like it usually was, someone else winning it.”

Haskett said he and his wife plan to use the jackpot winnings to make improvements to their home, help out their adult children, and possibly take a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida to visit a son.

“I know it is not a big amount, but it is more than I had,” Haskett said. “I am just thankful I won it. It came at a good time.”

Haskett split a $236,360 jackpot with a second winner, Larry Clegg of Biscoe, North Carolina. After taxes were withheld, they received $80,364 each.

This isn’t the first time a lottery winner has had a winning ticket and didn’t know it until later. A Palmdale, California woman left her ticket that she purchased in May in her car and never checked it to see if she won. The woman found out she won after her daughter saw a photograph published in a local newspaper and asked if she misplaced her ticket. If her daughter hadn’t seen the picture, her mother may have missed the November 26 deadline, and the $23 million prize would have gone to California schools.