A big surprise came to a woman in the small city of Brier after discovering she had won the $12.2 million Washington Lottery jackpot. The woman and her husband — who wished to remain anonymous — came forward Friday with the winning ticket.
"We're shocked, this is an unbelievable experience," the woman said in a press release
According to a Washington Lottery press release, this is the largest the jackpot has reached in a decade.
After hearing the winning Lotto numbers announced on July 3, the woman said she woke her husband to double check the ticket numbers for her. The winning ticket was purchased at Brier Grocery, located at 23607 Brier Road. The family-owned store will receive a 1% selling bonus from the winnings, which amounts to $122,000.
Brier Grocery began selling lottery tickets as a way of connecting with the community after learning there was a demand for them, a store employee said
"Being a community store in a small town, we like to take requests from our neighbors," the employee said. "We enjoy connecting with our customers about which scratch tickets they like to play and why."
The winner picked up her ticket from Brier Grocery on the day the winning numbers were announced. Then she went home and heard the winning numbers — 5, 12, 13, 27, 34, and 49.
"We know the store owner, and they told my husband his luck is different from my luck," the woman said. "My husband said, 'it's better that you get it, so if you are destined to win, then it's you and not me, I'm just going to ruin it for you.'"
However, the winner did not immediately claim her prize. After a celebratory breakfast and seeking financial advice, she said she heard on the news that the winner had not yet come forward.
"We said, 'Oh my God, they're talking about us,'" the woman said.
According to the press release, the couple lives by modest means and does not have any big plans for their winnings. However, they may be purchasing a new car soon, as the winner said her current car is more than 20 years old.
"That's the only splurge we'll do," she said. "We're very simple people, my husband and I always tease one another saying, 'You'll win one of these days.' It finally happened."
Congrats to the fortunate couple!
Sounds like a cute town and the Brier Grocery listened to their customers and put the lottery in there.
Congratulations to the couple. Now to get the Atlas out and see where it is; haven't been there best of my knowledge.
Now waiting to hear from the New Hampshire Lottery sold the winning MM ticket!
Congratulations !! Wonderful story and the kind of small country store I am always buying my lottery tickets from.
Good for them, that's even a state where it's not way too easy to win.
What about Exeter, New Hampshire where the first jackpot Mega Millions ticket was sold this week? Is that an easy state to win in....ROFL.
It's insanely easy to win in that state, they have won numerous PB and MM jackpots.
You are too funny; like I said, it was the first time the whole kit and caboodle was won on Mega Millions in NH ever. Powerball has been won there a couple of times that come to mind...maybe more? But not MM!
Congrats 💰🙂
The Washington state lottery rules reference claiming via a trust, etc, to remain anonymous although the entities behind the trust can still be released...last time I checked. So why no reference to a trust? It is a non anonymous state for an individual.
Maybe as a courtesy to the winners the newspaper omitted names. Or maybe their public records request wasn't fulfilled in time to meet the publishing deadline so they just labeled them anonymous.
Public records requests can take months and it is unlikely a request would have been made prior to the winner coming forward. So she must have claimed via a trust , etc., so why not mention this fact? Other winners might think one can simply ask for anonymity if they do not do their research.
Or perhaps a winner can simply ask for anonymity and claim as an individual and pray no one submits a public records request???
WASHINGTON Not Anonymous. "As a public agency, all documents held by Washington's Lottery are subject to the Public Records Act. Lottery prizes may be claimed in the name of a legally formed entity, such as a trust. However, in the event of a public records request, the documents forming the artificial entity may be released, thereby revealing the individual names of winners." https://www.walottery.com/ClaimYourPrize/
Congrats to the lucky couple, love those small country stores.
Nice Win! $$$$$$
Another thing to consider is that the winner has some sort of protected status like they’re being stalked or endangered in some way. I know that in VA if you had an order of protection you could petition to remain annoymous and was told that many other lotteries had mechanisms in place as well. They wouldn’t necessarily state that. I only know this because of a conversation I had with a lottery employee years ago.