84-Year Old Woman Claims Massive Powerball Jackpot
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) - The largest single winner in history from last month's massive million Powerball jackpot has claimed her prize.
Florida Lottery director Cynthia O'Connell said the winning ticket was purchased by 84-year old Gloria MacKenzie of Zephyrhills who won the $590 million jackpot - the largest lottery jackpot ever in the game's history and the largest jackpot in American lottery history.
MacKenzie opted to take her winnings in one lump sum which amounted to a little less than $371 million.
O'Connell said MacKenzie came to Tallahassee with her son, a trusted friend and an attorney.
MacKenzie did not attend the lotto department's news conference Wednesday afternoon, but O''Connell said she did want to pass along a message.
"We bought the winning ticket, a single ticket, even though we bought four other tickets before the drawing," said O'Connell. "While in line at Publix another lottery player was kind enough to let me go ahead of them in line to purchase the winning quick pick ticket."
Zephyrhills, population 13,337, is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Like many Florida communities, it features a small, old-timey downtown strip where restaurants, gift shops and clothing stores sit under a canopy of oak trees. Around the city's perimeter, there's the suburban sprawl of big box stores. It was in that sprawl, at a Publix supermarket, where the winning ticket was sold.
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