Jilted lottery player gets new roof

A California woman who thought she won the state’s $54 million lottery -- and then discovered the local newspaper had printed the wrong winning numbers -- is getting a new roof compliments of ABC Supply and Allstate Roofing. 

According to an article printed in the Fresno Bee, Elida Betancourt, a 69-year-old retired fruit packer, had been playing California’s “Mega Millions” lottery for years when she saw her winning numbers published in the newspaper on July 14. After screaming, praying and gathering her relatives together, Betancourt vowed that the first thing she would do is fix her leaky roof. 

The mix-up was discovered when her son went to a nearby liquor store and learned that the wrong numbers had been printed. Apparently the newspaper had obtained its information from the state lottery’s website, which was late in refreshing its results that week.

Mike Firpo, a managing partner of ABC Supply in Fresno, heard about Betancourt’s lost fortune from his neighbor, Will Fleet, publisher of the Fresno Bee. ABC Supply agreed to provide materials for a reroofing job at Betancourt’s house, while Allstate Roofing is doing the work -- a project valued at about $12,000.