MIDLAND, Mich. – A Michigan man who won a $2 million lottery jackpot in 2010 and appeared on the TLC show “Lottery Changed My Life,” was found dead in a Michigan river last weekend.
A body found floating in the Tittabawassee River was identified as 69-year-old Leroy N. Fick, according to the Saginaw and Bay City News. Midland police said Fick’s death doesn’t appear to be suspicious.
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Fick, from Auburn, won the jackpot in 2010, and after about two years, the money was gone. Fick spent $200,000 on the construction of a new home and about $200,000 in annuities, in addition to losing money in investments and fireworks. In 2012, Fick was charged in Bay County with three misdemeanor counts of possession of illegal fireworks.
Fick and another lottery winner, Amanda Clayton, drew national headlines when they continued to receive government assistance even after winning the jackpots.
Michigan eventually closed the loophole that allowed this to happen, requiring the Michigan Lottery to report winners to DHS.
Clayton was found dead in 2012 of an apparent drug overdose.