'Found a few tickets:' Couple claims $1.8M jackpot after doing some cleaning ahead of Thanksgiving

MANDEVILLE, La. -- A couple from Louisiana has more than a million new reasons to be thankful after claiming a $1.8 million jackpot from the June 6 Louisiana Lottery Lotto drawing three days before Thanksgiving.

According to the Louisiana Lottery, Harold and Tina Ehrenberg discovered the ticket while doing some holiday cleaning.

“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,” said Tina Ehrenberg, according to a press release posted by Louisiana Lottery officials.

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

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

After realizing their good fortune, Harold Enrenberg began counting down the days from the drawing, realizing there was a deadline to claim the prize.

“I kept waiting for something to go wrong,” Harold recalled.

Officials with the Louisiana Lottery said the winning ticket was purchased at International Market on Barron Street in Metairie, Louisiana. The store received a one-time selling bonus of $17,948.07, which is one percent of the prize.

The winners received $1,274,313 after state and federal tax withholdings, which they plan to put away for retirement.