Minnesota Professor Buys 'Fluke' Lottery Ticket, Ends Up Winning $1 Million
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – John Engstrom, a college professor from southern Minnesota, only stopped at Kwik Trip in Mankato last month to buy donuts. In what he described as a "fluke," he ended up getting a lottery ticket.
The impulsive purchase ended up being worth a million dollars.
He told the Minnesota Lottery that he didn't realize he'd purchased a winning Powerball ticket until Christmas Eve, when his grandson's dirty diaper forced him to do laundry. He found the ticket in his coat pocket.
"I told my son, 'Your baby had a million-dollar mess!,'" Engstrom told the lottery. "If it wasn't for his messy diaper, I wouldn't have checked the ticket."
Engstrom's winning ticket matched the first five winning numbers drawn on Dec. 18.
Engstrom, of Mountain Lake, is the fifth Minnesotan to claim a $1 million or more lottery prize this year.