A man in Michigan was found dead on a private beach with a winning lottery ticket in his wallet, authorities said.
According to officials, Gregory Jarvis, 57, won $45,000 after playing the state’s Club Keno game in a bar before his remains washed up on the beach in Huron County, The Independent reported.
An ABC12 report stated that Jarvis’ friends said that the man had not yet received the cash he won due to an issue with his Social Security card. But, he had been in high spirits after winning.
After not showing up for work, alarms were raised and just two days later, his body was discovered by someone who was walking along the beach in Saginaw Bay.
Discovery Of The Lottery Ticket Urged Investigators To Look Into The Cause Of Jarvis’ Death
According to Police Chief Kyle Romzek of Caseville Michigan, the discovery of the winning lottery ticket urged the investigators to carefully look into the events that led to Jarvis’ death.
“We are thinking that he was tying up his boat, slipped and fell, hit his head, and that’s where he ended up in the water, no foul play suspected,” Chief Romzek said.
“We were concerned about it (the lottery win) but after the autopsy, and we interviewed people at the bar, he was well-liked around here, he was nice guy, that took it off the table,” he added.
An autopsy showed that the injuries Jarvis had were consistent with hitting his head on the boat and drowned.
Jarvis Planned To Use Money To Visit Family; Family Now Has The Winning Ticket
According to Jarvis’ friends, the 57-year-old was planning to use the money he had won to visit his father and sister in North Carolina.
He had reportedly lost his social security card and applied for a new one since The Michigan Lottery Commission states that the winner of prizes more than $600 have to provide a photo identification and a physical copy of their Social Security card to be able to collect their winnings.
His family now holds the winning lottery ticket.
Also Read: Man in Oklahoma Kills Wife, Daughter Before Taking His Own Life Over $2M Lottery Win
