The winner of this week's "Hoosier Millionaire" game show died after being hit by a pickup truck just hours after the show's taping, authorities said Friday.
Carl D. Atwood, 73, won $57,000 on Thursday during a taping of the television game show in Indianapolis, Hoosier Lottery Director Jack Ross said.
After the two-hour taping, which will air tonight, Atwood returned to his hometown of Elwood with the check, Ross said.
About 7 p.m., Atwood was crossing Main Street a block from his home -- on his way to the grocery store where he had bought the ticket that got him on the show -- when a black pickup rounded a corner and struck him, said Elwood Police Chief Toby R. Barker.
"It was at an unlighted intersection, and Mr. Atwood had dark clothing on," Barker said, "so the driver did not see him before he hit him."
Atwood suffered a head injury, Barker said. He was taken to a local hospital and transported to an Indianapolis hospital, where he died.
The driver, Brian Harris, 29, an Elwood firefighter, will not be charged, Barker said.
Elwood, a city of about 10,000 in Madison County, is about 45 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
"We are going to air the show," Ross said in a telephone interview. "That is what they (the Atwood family) wanted to do, and at the end of the show we will have something in memory of Carl Atwood."
A woman who answered the phone at the Atwood residence Friday afternoon, but declined to identify herself, said the family was too grief-stricken to speak about the accident.
Contestants for "Hoosier Millionaire" are selected from players of a scratch-off lottery ticket game.
Every 13th week of the show, the winning contestants from the previous 12 weeks are invited to compete for $1 million.
"We will certainly have a place on that show for someone who the family chooses to take his place," Ross said.
*Winces* ... now that's one of those sad times ...
::Claps hands, bows head solemnly.::
... yeah... a bit of my eastern traditions coming in ... such a sad things to happen ...
prayers for him
the japanese word for car crash and winning the lottery is the same word "ataru"
just thought i'd mention that