Gossip on the mountain is that his G-daughter is in the hospital from an auto accident.

She was just found dead its all over the news. SO Sad. I bet they regret winning the lottery because with winning the lottery Jack lost his only granddaughter. I pray that nothing like this ever happens to the people I know.

Just want to let the family know my heart goes out to you all in your time of loss.  Was praying for you all and will continue throughout this hardship.  May God bless you all this holiday season and hold your hands and hearts to the road of healing. 

some of you that reply to these articles are extremely stupid... whittaker winning the lottery had nothing to do with his grandaughters death...the truth is his grandaughter like many other teens has a problem with drugs and alcohol...its not in a official report yet but the exam has been completed and results will be released soon giving cause of death as a o.d case.........which was the cause of death for her other friend which was found in whittakers house......give this guy a break and leave him and his family alone specially now that he lost his grandchild....whittaker has done silly things since winning the big one but if it wasnt for the winnings no one right now would even know his business....and to all have a great holiday and be thankful your family is good.

Quote: Originally posted by grimreaper5869 on December 23, 2004

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some of you that reply to these articles are extremely stupid... whittaker winning the lottery had nothing to do with his granddaughter's death...the truth is his granddaughter like many other teens has a problem with drugs and alcohol...its not in a official report yet but the exam has been completed and results will be released soon giving cause of death as a o.d case.........which was the cause of death for her other friend which was found in whittakers house......give this guy a break and leave him and his family alone specially now that he lost his grandchild....whittaker has done silly things since winning the big one but if it wasnt for the winnings no one right now would even know his business....and to all have a great holiday and be thankful your family is good.

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Actually, some of the replies which you are deeming as "extremely stupid" may in fact have some merit to them.  You may not realize it, but when people become wildly famous overnight -- like the whole Whittaker family did, including the granddaughter -- it can cause things to happen which would ordinarily not happen.

From what I understand drugs were involved.  There are a variety of reasons why drugs could have been involved, so are you so certain that that family's instant fame did not have something to do with it?

I included a picture of the granddaughter in the news story.  Did you notice that it was taken just after her appearance on the Today show?  Is that something that normal teenagers do?  No, I don't think so.

So you see, there are other points of view besides your own.

This does not lessen or invalidate the family's grief in any way.  Perhaps it makes it even more profound.  We all grieve for the family.

Please do not confuse some of the comments here as being callous in any way.  I think the membership is just trying to air some words of caution to future jackpot winners, so they can avoid many of the mistakes and hardships that the Whittaker family had.