A Maryland woman claimed a $50,000 lottery prize two months after the drawing due to her ticket being hidden by her cat. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

April 29 (UPI) -- A Maryland lottery player claimed a $50,000 Powerball prize two months after the drawing and offered an explanation for the delay -- the ticket had been hidden by her cat.

The 67-year-old Baltimore woman told Maryland Lottery officials the $2 quick-pick ticket was one of several Powerball tickets she purchased for the Feb. 23 drawing at the Giant store on West 41st Street in Baltimore.


The woman said she put the tickets on her nightstand for safekeeping.

"When I buy Lottery tickets, I never watch the drawings or even check to see if I won until a few days later," she said. "What I didn't know is that after my cat knocked some papers off my nightstand, a few of my tickets ended up falling behind my bed. I didn't see the additional papers behind my bed until I did some spring cleaning."

The woman said she used the Maryland Lottery app to check the tickets.

"To my surprise, one of them was a winner!"

The woman visited lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim her $50,000 prize.

"I don't have big plans for the money," she said. "I will pay off some home improvement projects and donate 10 percent to my church. I will use some of this money to help people."