A homeless man living in one of the country's most expensive places is at least $300,000 richer after purchasing a winning lottery ticket.
Homeless advocates in Aspen say Michael Engfors paid $10 for the scratch ticket Friday and slept at a shelter over the weekend before cashing it in on Monday. The Aspen Times reports that the 61-year-old winner, a builder who became homeless during the recession, tried to keep his good luck a secret and declined repeated requests to talk about it.
But word of the win quickly spread in town. The director of the Aspen Homeless Shelter, Vince Savage, who drove Engfors to the lottery office, says he collected between $300,000 and $400,000 after taxes.
He says Engfors plans to use his winnings to find his long-lost adult daughter.
