Santa Fe Woman Claims $10,000 Mega Millions® Prize After Coffee Shop Finds Her Lost Purse

11/15/2012

ALBUQUERQUE – Patricia Gallagher of Santa Fe won a $10,000 Mega Millions® prize in the game’s Oct. 19 drawing, but before she could claim her prize, the valuable quick-pick ticket spent a few lonely days in a coffee shop.

Gallagher, who stopped for a cup of coffee on her way home from work, left her purse and lucky ticket in the store. She didn’t discover that her purse was missing until the next day.

Patricia Gallagher

Above: Patricia Gallagher, winner of $10,000 Mega Millions® prize

“I had my whole day planned for cashing (the ticket) and I went to find it and it was gone,” Gallagher recalled for New Mexico Lottery officials in Albuquerque Nov. 9.

After searching her car, Gallagher called the coffee shop and told the manager her story. Then she explained that the ticket was in a multi-colored wallet. So the manager looked for a wallet rather than a purse and came back to the phone to give Gallagher the bad news that there was no wallet in lost and found.

“I was crestfallen. I thought it was gone forever,” Gallagher said, “but then two days later they looked one more time and they found it.

“I’m very, very grateful, very lucky, very happy, and I’ll never lose my purse again,” she said.

Gallagher matched the winning white ball numbers of 14, 36, 48 and 53 and the Megaball of 42. She bought her ticket at the Corner Store at 1775 Main St. SW in Los Lunas.

Legislative Lottery College Scholarships

Since its inception in April 1996, the lottery has raised $539 million for education and more than 75,300 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships.

In the past 16 years, more than 4,800 students from Santa Fe County have received $24.4 million in Legislative Lottery Scholarships while 1,730 students have received $1.2 million in scholarships to attend Santa Fe Community College.

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