Lottery winner finds lost $500,000 winning ticket stuffed in old laptop weeks before it expired

A LOTTERY winner found a missing $532,234 winning ticket stuffed in an old notebook at the time.

The North Carolina woman searched for the ticket for five months, only to find it a few weeks before it expired.

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Ana Maya, 32 years old, told North Carolina Education Lottery She lost her ticket when she moved to a new place.

According to reports, she began to panic when she opened the package and realized the ticket had not been found.

“The past few months have been stressful trying to figure it out,” said the winner. “I completely forgot where I put it.”

Luckily, Maya eventually found the ticket pressed between the pages of an old school notebook.

“I was very, very relieved when I finally found it,” Maya added. “That was the last place I looked.”

Maya shared that she plans to spend on vacation, as well as on bills, investments and savings for her two children.

The winning ticket was a Quick Pick ticket for the September 6 Cash 5 draw.

Winners have 180 days to claim their prize before it expires; Maya made her statement before it expired on March 6.

After claiming her prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, Maya took home $346,005.