Md. Waits For Winner Of The $640M Mega Millions Jackpot; Ticket Sold In Milford Mill
MILFORD MILL, Md. (WJZ)-- Astronomical odds were cracked with a single ticket in Baltimore County.
Alex DeMetrick has more.
Word spread before dawn that the 7-11 on Liberty Road had struck paydirt. The lottery machine in the store was one of only three in the nation to score the biggest jackpot in U.S. history.
"It's Mega Millions! Hello America!"
And hello to the winning six numbers drawn last night for $640 million.
"Again, tonight's winning numbers are 46, 23, 38, 4, 2, and the gold Megaball is 23," the announcer said.
"I can't believe it's so close to home because we live right around the corner," Sarah Clinton, a resident of Milford Mill, said.
But does the holder of the winning ticket live right around the corner in Milford Mill or somewhere else? Right now, no one knows. But here's how it happened.
"We do know it was sold at 7:15 last night. It was a quick pick and there was only one ticket purchased," Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, said.
That's only one ticket out of a record $11 million worth sold in Maryland alone.
The other two tickets came from a rural convenience store in Kansas and another in Illinois, although the dreams going in were just like any Marylander's.
"I would donate some money to the cancer society," one Maryland resident said before the drawing.
"Help my family out," said another.
"A huge house."
The cash breakdown works out to three winners claiming $213 million each and 150 $250,000 winners with five numbers. And four of those $250,000 tickets were sold in Maryland.
"Our advice to the player is to safeguard the ticket, sign the back of it," Martino said.
"It's an awful lot of money. I was trying to think, what I would do with it? X number of dollars to my siblings, to my parents, house-- things like that, but they'll have to make a plan to spend all that," Clinton said.
And that's the advice to the winner from lottery officials: Contact a lawyer, a financial planner before you step forward.
Unlike other states, lottery winners in Maryland can remain anonymous.
