A Virginia Lottery ticket sat in a Bible — then it became a $1M miracle

It's been a whirlwind week for Virginia Lottery winners, with lucky players claiming millions in prizes across the state. From Powerball to Cash 5 jackpots, the wins just keep rolling in — but one of the most remarkable stories belongs to one winner who unknowingly held a $1 million ticket tucked safely inside her Bible.

With faith and a little bit of luck, she and several other winners are now celebrating life-changing prizes.

The Bible holds the winning ticket

It was just a normal day for Jacqueline Mangus, who was watching the news while she was getting ready for work. That is when she saw a ticket bought in Moneta had won $1 million in Virginia's New Year's Millionaire Raffle.

Mangus knew she had bought a raffle ticket in Moneta, so she went to check her ticket where she was keeping it safe — in her Bible. Faith was on her side that morning as she checked the number and realized she was holding that $1 million winning ticket in her hand.

The win didn't phase her, though, as Mangus continued getting ready for work and headed into her shift as a burse. However, she recently made her way to lottery headquarters to claim her winnings and told lottery officials she was “tickled to death” after discovering she won.

Mangus bought her winning raffle ticket, #081604, on Christmas Eve at Lake Mart & Deli, located at 4795 Scruggs Road in Moneta. This was one of five top prize-winning tickets in Virginia's New Year's Millionaire Raffle.

Even more raffle winners claim their prizes

It's definitely been a week of raffle winners claiming their prizes at lottery headquarters. Another $1 million winner, Tarikua Dagnachew, bought her ticket, #068764, on Christmas Day at McNair Farms Sunoco, located at 13470 Coppermine Road in Herndon.

Most stores were closed on Christmas Day, but Dagnachew told lottery officials she knew she was going to win, so she put in the extra effort to get a ticket. And win is what she did, as she ended up being one of the five $1 million winners.

Meanwhile, three of the seven $100,000 prize winners came forward and claimed their prize. Those winners were:

• Karen Perez, who bought four tickets at York Food Mart, located at 8102 George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown, on her way back from a hair appointment. It paid off, as ticket #437563 won her $100,000.
• Timothy Doss bought his ticket, #521879, at The Cave, located at 1397 Fincastle Turnpike in Tazewell. After collecting his $100,000 prize, the small business owner told lottery officials, “I guess it was my turn to hit it!”
• Bianca Whited isn't a regular lottery player, but she does enjoy Virginia's New Year's Millionaire Raffle. She must like it even more now, as the ticket, #415658, she bought at BJ's, located at 12201 Bridgewood Crossing Drive in Midlothian, ended up being one of the seven $100,000 winners.

Other Virginia Lottery winners claim prizes

As we stated, it's been a busy week at the Virginia Lottery headquarters. We have even more winners that have come forward to claim their prizes, including:

• Martine Moore likes to play online Virginia Lottery games after getting home from work. It paid off recently, as she won the $1 million top prize playing the Million Dollar Countdown game. At first she thought she won $1,000, but soon she realized it was much more than that.
• Rodney Dawes matched all five of the winning numbers with an Easy Pick ticket he bought online for the January 6, 2025, Cash 5 with EZ Match draw. The winning numbers for the drawing were 1, 13, 20, 21, and 32. For matching all of the winning numbers, Dawes won the jackpot for that night, which was $342,862.
• Frankye Reavis was “speechless” after realizing she won a jackpot of $148,722 playing the online game Castle of Crystals on her phone.
• Mark Dinapoli matched five of the six winning Powerball numbers during the October 12, 2024, drawing to win $100,000. The winning white ball numbers for the draw were 5, 14, 20, 41, and 57, and the Powerball number was 6. He matched four of the five white ball numbers and the Powerball to win $50,000, but he chose the Power Play option, which doubled his winnings to $100,000. He purchased the ticket at the Harris Teeter, located at 900 Army Navy Drive in Arlington.
• Richard Bellew, a retired Navy officer, woke up on January 1 and wanted to try the new online game from the Virginia Lottery called Knight's Bounty. It worked out for Bellew, as he ended up winning $100,000 on that New Year's Day morning.

Enjoy playing the Virginia Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.