Missouri Lottery: Missouri lottery winner to validate $3.1 million winning ticket
Missouri Lottery asks man to 'Show Me'
He bought a lottery ticket at the Mini Mart in Ava. On Saturday he hit the jackpot. At least he thinks so.
Now, an Ava man must wait until Wednesday or Thursday for state lottery officials to verify whether his lottery ticket will turn him into a $3.1 million winner in the Missouri Lottery. The man turned in his ticket Monday morning at the Ava convenience store, said worker Rhonda Yost. Her co-worker was on duty when the man arrived.
"She said he was just like in shock," Yost said. The man asked the store staff not to release his name yet.
Missouri Lottery officials confirmed that someone claimed to have the winning ticket on Monday, and expected to receive the ticket stub for verification in Jefferson City. Once verified, officials will release the winner's name, by law. The winning numbers were 5, 14, 16, 18, 30 and 44.
"They're not official winners until their ticket has cleared security," said spokeswoman Shelly Perez.
That makes the news all the more suspenseful in Ava, which has never had a Missouri jackpot winner, Perez said.
"It's pretty exciting for the Ava community," Perez said. "I'm sure everybody is wondering who the heck it is."
It would be good news for the Mini Mart, too. The retailer selling the winning ticket receives an amount equal to 1 percent of the jackpot in this case about $31,000, Perez said. "So they basically won the jackpot, too," she said.