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- Feb 12, 2007
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£20m Lottery Winner Found In Concrete Grave
A lottery winner who repeatedly told his family "I'd have been better off broke" has been found buried five-feet deep under a concrete slab.
American Abraham Shakespeare, 47, who scooped $31m (£20m) in 2006, vanished nine months ago, although he was not reported missing until November last year.
His friends and family had hoped he was on a beach in the Caribbean, but police found his remains in the woods of a private property near Plant City in Florida.
Using heavy equipment, investigators broke up the large concrete slab and for two days they dug up dirt, much of it by hand, and sifted through it.
Mr Shakespeare's body was so badly decomposed that detectives had to use fingerprints to identify him.
The property where he was found belongs to the boyfriend of a woman named as Shar Krasniqi who befriended Mr Shakespeare in 2007, authorities said.
Police believe Mr Shakespeare was murdered, but they do not yet know how he died and have made no arrests.
Mr Shakespeare's brother, Robert Brown, said his sibling often wished he had never bought the winning ticket.
"'I'd have been better off broke.' He said that to me all the time," Mr Brown said.
Before his windfall, Mr Shakespeare was an assistant truck driver who lived with his mother. He was barely literate and had a criminal record.
After he struck lucky, he bought a million-dollar home and was said to be extremely generous to others.
"He really didn't understand it at all," said Samuel Jones, a friend since childhood.
"It was moving so fast. It changed his life in a bad way."
Mr Jones said Mr Shakespeare would tell him: "I thought all these people were my friends, but then I realised all they want is just money."
