$45,000 Michigan lottery winner dies with ticket in wallet

Updated: Sep 30, 2021 / 04:24 PM CDT

A lottery customer purchases lottery tickets at Conjelko’s Dairy Store in Windber, Pa. on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (Todd Berkey/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)

ESSEXVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man died with a winning $45,000 lottery ticket in his wallet, police said.

Authorities believe Greg Jarvis drowned during an accident on his boat. His body was found on a Saginaw Bay beach last week, Caseville Police Chief Kyle Romzek told WJRT-TV.

Jarvis, 57, was at the Blue Water Inn in Caseville on Sept. 13 when he won $45,000 playing Club Keno, a Michigan Lottery game, owner Dawn Talaski said.

But Jarvis couldn’t immediately collect the winnings because he didn’t have a Social Security card, which was necessary to get the prize, Talaski said.

Jarvis was last seen at the bar buying drinks for friends on Sept. 19, but he still was waiting for a card and hadn’t received his money, Talaski said.

Police were called Sept. 24 when a body was found near a boat that belonged to Jarvis. An autopsy was performed.

“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,” Romzek said.

The winning ticket was given to Jarvis’ family.