2 Winners For $380M Lottery Sold In Wash., Idaho
BOISE, Idaho (AP) --After a nationwide frenzy for a life-changing chance to win a $380 million Mega Millions jackpot, the two winning tickets were sold in small Pacific Northwest towns just 125 miles apart.
Idaho Lottery officials said Wednesday that one winner is from the northern Idaho town of Post Falls. That's just across the border from Washington, where the other winning ticket was sold at a Safeway supermarket in the town of Ephrata.
The winners have not yet stepped forward, and Idaho officials declined to identify the store where that state's winning ticket was sold.
Because of feverish sales right up to Tuesday night's drawing, the winners will share a $380 million jackpot, an increase over the previous $355 million estimate, said Scott Kinney, Washington's Lottery spokesman.
The two winning tickets are each worth $190 million paid in 26 annual installments. Each lucky winner also has the option of taking an $81 million lump sum payment, Idaho Lottery Commission spokesman David Workman said.
The Jackpot winners had to match five regular numbers plus the "Mega ball." The winning numbers were 4, 8, 15, 25 and 47, with the Mega ball number of 42.
Another 67 people in 22 states each won $250,000 by matching five numbers without the Mega ball. More than 5.5 million others won prizes ranging from $10,000 to $2.
The drawing drew huge interest across the country as thousands of people lined up to buy tickets in the 41 states and Washington, D.C., where the game is available.
Fans of the ABC television show "Lost" are having some fun with the jackpot.
Four of the six winning numbers matched those that character Hugo "Hurley" Reyes used to win a lottery on the show, only to suffer a series of spectacular misfortunes. Hurley's numbers — 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 — popped up throughout the show.
Mega Millions said 25,587 tickets matched three of the winning numbers, plus the bonus number — so anyone who played the "Lost" numbers won $150 per ticket.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
