Iowa PowerBall Lottery Winner Comes Forward, Harlem Ticket Still A Mystery
CLIVE, Iowa (CBSNewYork/AP) - A single mother from the small Iowa community of Redfield has claimed her share of a nearly $700 million PowerBall prize.
Iowa Lottery officials confirmed Monday that Lerynne West was one of two winners of a $688 million jackpot drawn Oct. 27. She'll share the prize with someone who bought the other winning ticket in New York City.
West's ticket was sold at Casey's Convenience Store in Redfield, a rural community of about 800 people roughly 35 miles west of Des Moines. She opted for the cash option, which will pay her an immediate $198.1 million, minus taxes.
West said she dreamed of winning a jackpot, but "once you have won, you realize the responsibility and the impact you can make, and all the frivolity goes out the window."
The 51-year-old worked for a health insurance organization, but says she retired last week.
There were two tickets sold that matched all six numbers, the one in Iowa and the other at the West Harlem Deli Corp. The lucky winners will split the $687.8 million jackpot after the numbers pulled came up 8, 12, 13, 19, 27, and the Powerball was 4.
The holder of the Harlem PowerBall ticket will need to come forward in order to claim the other half of the jackpot.
Two tickets sold in Nassau County and two in New Jersey matched five numbers. Those winners will take home a $1 million prize.
The PowerBall jackpot had been building over 21 drawings where no one had all the winning numbers. The last winning ticket that took home the jackpot was also sold in New York back in August.
The drawing came four days after someone won a $1.54 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which marked the nation's second-largest lottery prize ever. That ticket was sold in South Carolina, where lottery winners can remain anonymous.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)