MINNEAPOLIS - The lucky owner of one of three winning tickets to a $448 million Powerball jackpot came forward in Minnesota on Thursday, the morning after the numbers were drawn, officials said.
A news conference to introduce the winner to the world was being quickly scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the Minnesota lottery office.
Officials have verified as genuine the ticket purchased in Anoka County in the Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area, said state lottery spokeswoman Debbie Hoffmann.
The identity of the other two winning ticket holders - purchased separately in New Jersey - remained a mystery. Those tickets were sold at a Super Stop & Shop supermarket in South Brunswick and an Acme Markets store in Little Egg Harbor, said Judith Drucker, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Lottery.
The numbers drawn on Wednesday night were 5, 25, 30, 58, 59 and Powerball 32.
“It's nice. It's good for whoever won,” said Stop & Shop store manager Howard Witzgall, noting the winner's identity remained a mystery.
The odds of winning the jackpot were about one in 175 million. If the Minnesota ticket checks out, it would be worth about $86 million on a lump-sum cash basis, or $58.3 million after taxes, the lottery said.
The largest jackpot in history stands at $656 million, won in the Mega Millions lottery in March 2012. That prize was split among winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.
The biggest single-winner Powerball jackpot, $590.5 million, was claimed in June by an 84-year-old Florida woman who opted for a lump-sum payment of nearly $371 million rather than the 30-year option.
Powerball tickets are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Five states - Kansas, Maryland, Delaware, North Dakota and Ohio - allow the winners to remain anonymous, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
Reuters