and then when you do win:
Confirmed: Dead body is that of missing Lottery winner Enlarge Photo In a Thursday January 28, 2010 photo, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigators dig and sift an area that was underneath a concrete slab in the backyard of a home in Plant City Fla. Human remains have been found near a home where investigators were searching for the body Abraham Shakespeare, a missing man who won millions of dollars in the lottery nearly four years ago, Florida sheriff's officials said. (AP Photo/The Ledger, Ernst Peters)
The Orlando Sentinel
Posted: 3:19 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29, 2010
Hilllsborough County officials confirmed this afternoon that the body they dug up Thursday night in Plant City is that of missing former Florida Lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare.
Shakespeare, who had not been seen since April and was reported missing in November, was ID'd through fingerprint analysis, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
Officials are not saying how Shakespeare died, but law enforcement officials have said they are investigating the death as a homicide.
Investigators have removed earth-moving equipment from where the remains were discovered on State Road 60 in Plant City.
Abraham Shakespeare, a 43-year-old truck driver's assistant, won a $31 million lottery jackpot in 2006, opting for a lump sum payment of nearly $17 million.
The remains were found at a home owned by the boyfriend of Dorice Moore. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has previously called Moore a "person of interest," though she has not been charged. Judd has characterized the case as a homicide.
On Dec. 5, Moore told The Ledger newspaper that she helped Shakespeare disappear, but now wants him to return because detectives were searching her home and car and looking for blood on her belongings.
Judd has said Moore transferred more than $1 million from Shakespeare's bank account into hers. She said the money was a gift.
Shakespeare had a criminal record that included arrests and prison time for burglary, battery and not paying child support. He used his winnings to buy a Nissan Altima, a Rolex from a pawn shop and a $1 million home in a gated community — but the money quickly caused him more problems.
A former co-worker sued him in 2007, accusing Shakespeare of stealing the winning ticket from him. Six months later, a jury ruled the ticket was Shakespeare's. And his mother, Elizabeth Walker, has said others were constantly asking Shakespeare for a piece of his fortune.
Not long after he bought the million-dollar home in early 2007, he was approached by Moore, family and sheriff's officials have said. She became something of a financial adviser, and property records showed that her company bought Shakespeare's house in January 2009.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
