$85-Million Lotto Ticket Possibly Misplaced

A 44-year-old Costco employee says she won $85 million in the California Lottery, but now she’s misplaced the ticket.

No matter.

Carole Warner isn’t sure she wants the money anyway. Money changes everything, she points out, and she likes her life as is.

Warner said she last saw the ticket Wednesday night, shortly after the Super Lotto Plus drawing.

“We’ve been looking all over for it,” Warner said Friday outside the apartment she shares with her husband, Steve, and their 10-year-old son.

Lottery officials say no one has produced the winning ticket, which was purchased at a convenience store in Vallejo.

Warner said even if she does find the ticket, she’s not sure she’ll keep the money.

“I’m very simple,” she said. “I like quiet and calmness and doing the things we do as a family.”

She said people who know her story already have been acting strangely, some coming up just to touch her.

If she finds the ticket, Warner said she might give the winnings to charity.

“I have six months to think about it, and I’m going to,” she said. “I’m overwhelmed right now.”

Fifteen jackpots have gone unclaimed in the 17-year history of the California Lottery, said spokeswoman Cathy Doyle Johnston.