Man Finds Missing Winning Lottery Ticket After Over a Month of Searching: ‘A Big Sigh of Relief’

"I saw that the first ticket was a winner but couldn't find the other ticket," lottery winner Phillip H. said of his two winners, which were valued at $500,000 each

One man had additional luck after finally finding a winning lottery ticket that he feared was lost forever after several weeks of searching.

Phillip H. was the lucky winner of Washington, D.C.'s DC Lottery’s Lucky for Life game on Aug. 12 — but he only recently claimed his full million-dollar prize because he couldn’t find one of his two winning tickets.

Per Lottery USA, after an entire month of searching for the missing ticket, the 57-year-old  Washington resident and environmental volunteer found the second of the two winners, both of which landed him $25,000 for life (or the lump sum of $500,000).

Related: Woman Learns She Won $135K Prize After Buying a Lottery Ticket and Forgetting About It for Months

“After searching through old tickets, I found it and let out a big sigh of relief,” Phillip said, per Lottery USA.

He then explained his strategy for buying tickets, saying, “I always get two tickets, and I always pick my own numbers. That's my winning strategy. I saw that the first ticket was a winner but couldn't find the other ticket.”

Related: Virginia Man Loses $1.5B by Changing His Powerball Numbers But Still Becomes a Millionaire

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The winning White Ball numbers were 3, 6, 17, 24, and 35, and the Lucky Ball was 2.

When asked by DC Lottery officials about his plans for his newfound wealth, Phillip said that “he's committed to home renovations and purchasing a new truck to help with his volunteer efforts.”

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