The lucky winner of California’s SuperLotto Plus Jackpot has finally come forward to claim her $23 million, 25 days short of forfeiting the prize. The woman’s photo appeared in the newspaper recently, taken from the surveillance video at the store where the winning ticket was sold. The woman’s daughter spotted it and snapped a photo of the paper, then sent her mother the picture.

California Lottery spokesperson Alex Traverso stated, “She said she just never checked the ticket. When her daughter sent her mother a picture of the newspaper this morning, she just went back out to the car and the ticket was sitting right where she left it. Pretty amazing.”

It’s been a long five months for California Lottery officials who had been searching for the mystery winner, who purchased the winning ticket at Michael’s Market & Liquor in Palmdale, Calif.

Liquor store manager Ben Sadi said his store opened on May 1, and four weeks later, on May 28, the winning ticket was pulled. After the liquor store learned they had sold the winning ticket, they posted signs outside the store saying “The millionaire made here,” along with photos from surveillance of the alleged winner.

“I was really really happy, really extremely happy. Our first store, we hit the lotto,” said Sadi. Sadi’s store will receive a bonus of one half percent for selling the winning ticket, which amounts to $115,000.

(Source: Maria Nikias, abcnews.go.com)