A Mandeville couple has something additional to be thankful for as they were cleaning house preparing for family coming into town and found a winning lottery ticket, just two weeks shy of expiration. The ticket was valued at $1.8 million, as it was the sole jackpot-winning ticket from a June drawing. Louisiana Lottery spokesperson BreAnne Frye said the ticket was found on a nightstand.

"She said it was a whirlwind after that.  They started checking the numbers over and over again, they called the winning numbers hotline, and then immediately checked to see how long it would be before the ticket expired," said Frye.

"You could tell they were so grateful to win this prize.  And they know exactly what they are going to do, they are going to put this toward retirement.  They don't have too many crazy plans," said Frye of the couple's plans for the winnings.

Frye said it’s not just the couple that is seeing a nice return on the ticket purchase as the seller will also be receiving a generous kick back.

"The winning ticket was actually bought at International Market in Metarie and they will receive a one-time selling bonus for $17,948," said Frye.

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