Louisiana couple finds $1.8 million Lotto ticket while cleaning the house

Harold and Tina Ehrenberg, from Louisiana, were cleaning their home for the Thanksgiving holiday when they found a winning lottery ticket worth $1.8 million.

Two weeks before the prize was due to expire, the couple has claimed a $1.8 million jackpot-winning ticket for the June 6th Louisiana Lottery Lotto drawing.

"One Mandeville couple has over a million new reasons to be thankful this week. Harold and Tina Ehrenberg claimed the sole $1.8M jackpot-winning ticket for the June 6 #Lotto drawing," the Louisiana Lottery announced on Twitter on November 20.

“We don’t have any plans to buy anything crazy or go on any big trips.”

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A representative with the Louisiana Lottery said that Harold and Tina found the ticket while they were cleaning their house for the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We have family coming into town for Thanksgiving, so I was cleaning up the house and found a few Lottery tickets on my nightstand that we hadn’t checked,” Tina told KNOE.

They had only two weeks left to claim their prize. The jackpot had to be claimed within 180 days of the drawing.

“We kept checking the numbers again and again!” Harold said.

Tina added, “Plus, I called the winning numbers hotline over and over.”

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that the couple, who had nearly missed out on their favorable luck, left with $1,274,313 in winnings after claiming the jackpot and paying federal and state tax withholdings.

Harold and Tina plan to put the cash away for retirement.

“We don’t have any plans to buy anything crazy or go on any big trips,” Tina said.

“The most fun is going to be depositing that check!” Harold added.

Meanwhile, the proceeds of Louisiana Lottery, which began in 1991, go to the Minimum Foundation Program that funds public education in Louisiana.