A Michigan man said he forgot about his Powerball ticket for two months until he found it in his car and discovered it was a $1 million winner. Photo courtesy of the Michigan Lottery

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A Michigan man said he didn't know that he had won a $1 million Powerball jackpot until he found the forgotten ticket in his car two months later.

Peter DeLuca, 51, told Michigan Lottery officials he bought a Powerball ticket for the Oct. 13 drawing at a Kroger store in Sterling Heights, but he almost immediately forgot about the ticket.


"I stuck this ticket in my car and forgot about it until I found it on Wednesday," DeLuca said.

"I took the ticket to 7-Eleven to scan it and see if it was winner. When the clerk scanned it, she told me it was more than she could cash so she printed off the numbers from the drawing so I could check the ticket and see how much I'd won. As she read them off to me, I couldn't believe I was seeing them all on my ticket!" DeLuca said.

His ticket matched all five white balls drawn: 11-14-32-43-65.

DuLuca collected his $1 million jackpot Thursday at lottery headquarters.

"Winning really hasn't fully hit home yet, but it does give me some peace of mind to know that I will have this for a more comfortable retirement when I decide to slow down," he said.