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For lottery winners, trouble followed fortuneNews Story
They won $65.4 million in the lottery, quit their jobs and bought big houses.Five years later, Virginia Metcalf Merida and Mack Metcalf are dead. Merida's son discovered her body inside her 5,000-square-foot home overlooking the Ohio River in suburban Cincinnati on Wednesday. Merida, 51, may have been dead for days, according to the Campbell County, Ky., Police Department, which is awaiting autopsy results.Campbell County Police Detective David Halfhill told The Cincinnati Post that there were n
Nov 28, 2005, 6:31 am - Lottery News

Record lottery winner's business target of complaintsNews Story
More than 1,500 complaints have been filed in a Wood County sewer project being completed by a company owned by record Powerball winner Jack Whittaker, about one complaint for every customer the Union Williams Public Service District project would serve.Diversified Enterprise and its subcontractor, Zion Inc., allegedly have sliced water, sewer, gas and power lines, cut down trees and knocked down fences, according to complaints filed with the PSD, located in Waverly.The sewer project started in
Sep 21, 2005, 6:39 pm - Lottery News

Record lottery winner's wealth cost him dearlyNews Story
It was coming up on Christmas, and Brenda-the-biscuit-lady was inexplicably happy as she walked to work in the predawn darkness. Brenda didn't just make biscuits over at the C L Super Serve for $6 an hour. She served up good cheer. How you doin', honey? she'd greet customers, with such enthusiasm that they had no choice but to smile back. Dad-gonnit, you are growing up on me! she'd call to schoolchildren, just to see them grin. What grade you in now? At 39, Brenda Higginbotham didn't have muc
Jan 31, 2005, 9:36 am - Lottery News

MITCH ALBOM: Win the big lottery, spoil the marriageNews Story
I'm sure winning the lottery is good for something. But that something obviously isn't marriage.Take the recent case of Robert Swofford, a postal worker in Florida. He had been separated from his wife for three years. That's a long time to be separated. That's longer than many marriages. You figure that much time apart, you might as well finalize it. But they never got around to it.Then Swofford won the lottery. A fat $60 million. And wouldn't you know it? Just like that, his wife served him wit
Jan 11, 2005, 10:51 am - Lottery News

Lottery riches are only one component of happinessNews Story
Let's cut right to the chase here. How much money is enough? How much would make you happy this holiday season? We mean really happy. A million? $10 million? $100 million? The age-old question of whether money can buy happiness plays out in the headlines daily. Jewel Whittaker, wife of the lottery winner who took home the richest undivided jackpot in U.S. history a lump-sum payout of about $113 million after taxes now says she regrets his purchase of the ticket that won the $314.9 million jackp
Dec 27, 2004, 8:02 am - Lottery News

Record Powerball winner's wealth may have contributed to kin's deathNews Story
Sdventeen-year-old Brandi Bragg was laid to rest on Friday, almost two years to the day after her doting grandfather came into the great wealth that some say was Brandi's misfortune.The only granddaughter of Jack Whittaker, winner of the richest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history, was found dead earlier this week of what may have been a drug overdose.Whittaker and others say her sudden access to vast wealth had brought new friends and dangerous habits. Since she won the lottery she had to
Dec 24, 2004, 4:37 pm - Lottery News

Record Powerball lottery winner's granddaughter found deadNews Story
The body of record Powerball winner Jack Whittaker's 17-year-old granddaughter was found Monday in a rural area in western West Virginia, State Police said.Brandi Bragg's body was tentatively identified based on tattoos on her neck, said State Police Sgt. Jay Powers. The troopers (at the scene) had talked to her in the past and knew her, Powers said.State Police found the body behind a junked vehicle in a grassy area on Scary Creek Road outside Scott Depot in Putnam County, across the road from
Dec 20, 2004, 5:43 pm - Lottery News

Record Powerball Lottery Winner's Granddaughter MissingNews Story
Record Powerball winner Jack Whittaker has reported his 17-year-old granddaughter missing, police said late Thursday. Family members had not seen or heard from Brandi Lasha Bragg since 9 p.m. Saturday when she was at her Hurricane home, Putnam County Sheriff's Sgt. Lisa Arthur said. At this time we're treating this as an unusual disappearance, Arthur said. Normally someone would see her at least on a daily basis, someone in the family. Arthur said Whittaker reported Bragg missing sometime this
Dec 10, 2004, 10:01 am - Lottery News

Record Powerball lottery winner ordered into substance abuse programNews Story
A man who won a nearly $315 million Powerball lottery -- the largest single jackpot in history -- was ordered into substance abuse treatment today after his second drunken driving arrest this year.In an agreement with prosecutors, Jack Whittaker, 57, will check himself into rehab by Jan. 2, must surrender his license and may not drive until he provides written proof he's completed the 28-day residential program.Whittaker was charged with drunken driving last week, violating his $150 bond for a s
Dec 8, 2004, 1:07 pm - Lottery News

Record Powerball winner arrestedNews Story
A West Virginia man who won a record $315 million in the Powerball lottery was arrested on charges of drunken driving and carrying a pistol, authorities said.Jack Whittaker, 57, was jailed Tuesday night after his Hummer struck a concrete median near Beckley.Senior Trooper M.J. Pinardo reported that he smelled alcohol, but Whittaker refused sobriety tests and was extremely belligerent. Troopers also said he was carrying a small pistol in a boot and $117,000 in cash.He was released after he was
Dec 6, 2004, 8:01 am - Lottery News