A small act of honesty at a Myrtle Beach gas station turned into a $586,000 lottery win for a South Carolina man two months later.
The anonymous winner told the South Carolina Education Lottery he found a $500 winning ticket on the floor of the gas station in front of his local Walmart in Myrtle Beach. He told the store manager to let him know if anyone came looking for it.
Someone did, and he returned the ticket to its owner.
“The owner was so grateful to get the ticket back that I knew I was going to hit the lottery after that. I just knew it,” the man said, according to the South Carolina Education Lottery.
On April 25, he won the Palmetto Cash 5 jackpot worth $586,000 before tax. The odds of winning were one in 850,668.
The man said he plans to use part of the money to help others.
“I’ve been lucky in life and can use this prize to help some people,” he said. “And maybe my story will encourage others to do the right thing.”
Since 2002, the South Carolina Education Lottery says it has contributed more than $9.4 billion to support education in the state. It reported roughly $546.8 million was transferred in fiscal year 2025.
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