Lost and found — a million bucks

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Associated Press

CRETE, Neb. — Larry Hatch stayed cool when he and his wife won $1 million — as he did later when he lost it for about three hours.

On a trip to Nebraska to visit their sons, Larry and Leita Hatch stopped at a Burger King, where Larry Hatch bought a large soft drink. When he peeled the "Cash Is King" contest sticker off his cup, he found the only $1 million ticket in the nation.

Hatch was excited but tried to keep it quiet, said his son, Jeff. He went to a grocery store to copy the ticket because Burger King’s copier wasn’t working.

Back at his sons’ house, Jeff asked to see the winning ticket.

It was gone.

Hatch’s other son, Rocky, returned to Burger King while Hatch went back to the grocery store. He coolly walked in and picked up the stub, which apparently fell out of his pocket when he paid for the copies. It must have been on the floor in the checkout lane for about three hours.

A Burger King manager, J.W. Walker, said Hatch will have to keep the ticket until prizes are verified Dec. 31.

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