SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – For more than five months — while Julie Cervera struggled to pay a $600 electrical bill, feed her family and keep the cable company from shutting off her service because she couldn’t pay — she was a millionaire without knowing it.
Meanwhile, her $23 million lottery ticket languished forgotten in the glove compartment of her car.
Additional Photos
On Thursday, someone texted her a photo of her daughter, Charliena Marquez, buying the winning ticket for her at a Palmdale Liquor store. The photo had been released by lottery officials searching for the mysterious winner of the May drawing.
Back in May, mother and daughter were driving home together when Marquez felt queasy and asked her mother to pull over so she could buy a bottle of water.
Cervera asked her daughter to buy her a lottery ticket and dug in her purse trying to find a dollar. Marquez protested but eventually used her own money to purchase a Super Lotto Plus ticket for her mom.
“I put it in my new car. It’s an old car but it’s new to me. It’s been there for five months,” Cervera said Friday at a news conference with her three adult children and half a dozen grandchildren lined up behind her. “I’ve got like 200 tickets laying around my house. I never check my tickets.”
But when she finally looked in the glove compartment, the winning ticket was right where she left it. It was due to expire Nov. 26, so the California Lottery went looking for the winner.
Cervera, a widow who has lived on disability for 20 years, said her family has been through difficult times recently. Last year her 47-year-old son, Rudy, was killed in a motorcycle accident, leaving four teenage children.
“I’d give it all up to have my son here again,” she said and began to cry. Her oldest grandson, Rudy Jr., hugged her and the whole family wiped away tears.
“My grandkids are all going to be taken care of, and my (three) daughters,” she said. “I’m just so happy. I’m going to buy me a pair of Reeboks.”
She also has two adopted sons, ages 5 and 9, who have developmental disabilities.
“A big portion is going to them, so that when I’m gone they’ll be OK,” she said. “I’m going to take them to Disneyland. I really am! And we’re going to pay for everything.”
Cervera had only 180 days to claim her prize. If she hadn’t acted, the millions would have gone to California schools. A $52 million jackpot winner in Fremont was found in August by a similar public appeal by lottery officials.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.