US man finds million-dollar lottery ticket in cookie jar

8220;It was either take them,get them checked,or she was going to trash them that night,8221; Cerezo was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying.

Cerezo,a management consultant,said he took the tickets to a 7-Eleven in Aurora and scanned them. The first eight or nine tickets were not winners.

8220;The following one was USD 3,so I was excited. I get to pay for my Pepsi. And then the last one said file a claim,8221; he said,which meant it was worth at least USD 600.

Cerezo went online and found that the numbers matched the February 2 Lotto drawing. 8220;As each number kept matching,the smile kept going higher and higher. And when I realised we had all six numbers,it was that shocking moment of ,8217;Whoa,can this really be?'8221; he said in a news conference on Wednesday.

8220;Fast forward to the next day: Called in sick from work,went down into Chicago. It8217;s one of feelings where it8217;s okay if they fire me,8221; Cerezo said.

After he waited about half an hour,Cerezo said lottery officials brought him into a room and said his ticket was worth USD 4.85 million.

Just three months earlier,Cerezo appeared at a foreclosure hearing where a judge gave him a few more months to find a new home before they would be evicted. 8220;That was on February 12,so we were sitting on USD 4 million at that time in this jar,8221; he said. 8220;We will have our home paid off.8221;

Cerezo said February holds special significance for him and his family because his daughter Savannah was born in that month. She died from a sudden illness last year.

8220;It couldn8217;t have happened at a better time,8221; Cerezo said. 8220;I just thought,this is how God works.8221;