Jackpot Winner To Claim Winnings

The Washington winner of the Mega Millions lottery jackpot planned to discuss his windfall, while officials in Idaho waited for another lucky ticket-holder to come forward and claim half of the $380 million prize. Washington Lottery spokesman, Scott Kinney said the Washington ticket, purchased at a supermarket in Ephrata, was sold to a retired man who planned to bring his family to claim the winnings. The holder of the other winning ticket, purchased just 125 miles away in Post Falls, Idaho, remained unknown. The prospect of winning the second biggest jackpot in history 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 lottery is held. A day after the drawing, all eyes were on a region where most of the nation’s frozen french fries are produced, and on the similarity between the winning digits and the ones used by a character on the television show. The 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. Four of the six winning numbers matched numbers that were prominently featured throughout the popular series — 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42. Video producer, Ryan Jones of New York said he and a co-worker pooled their money to buy 10 tickets together, but he returned to the grocery store to buy an 11th entry just to play the “Lost" numbers. 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. “When the numbers popped up, I did have a moment where I thought: ‘You know, I could take this money and run, just get far away from Sarah and not share it with her,’" he said.