LANSING, January 6, 2000 — A Shelby Township area woman stared at her Michigan Lotto ticket in disbelief when she realized she had matched all six winning numbers and was the sole winner of a $3.9 million Lotto jackpot!
The lucky woman, who requested anonymity, was the only Michigan Lottery player to match all six numbers in the December 29 Michigan Lotto drawing: 5, 12, 19, 20, 25 and 26. That day’s announced jackpot was $3.9 million. The winner, however, chose to receive her winnings in one lump-sum payment for $2,113,354, the present cash value of the jackpot before taxes.
"When I first saw the winning numbers at the store I recognized them as the numbers I always play, but I immediately panicked because I hadn’t purchased a ticket for that drawing — or so I thought," the winner said. "I purchased a multi-draw ticket for the next two drawings the Wednesday before Christmas so I wouldn’t have to go out again before the drawing on Christmas Day. Due to the rush of the holidays I forgot to buy a ticket for the December 29 drawing."
The Shelby Township area woman said she requested a winning number report from the store where she saw the winning numbers so she could take it home and show her husband. By the time she arrived home she was crying because she had missed out on her chance of a lifetime.
"By the time I got home I was completely distraught and crying uncontrollably," she said. "I walked in the door and showed my husband the ticket and winning number report.
He looked at it for a minute and said, ‘Are you sure there was a Lotto drawing on Christmas Day?’ He picked up the phone right away and called a local retailer. He learned there was no drawing that day and that’s when he realized we were likely holding onto a winning Lotto jackpot ticket! Neither one of us could believe we won."
The winner said she has been playing Michigan Lottery games off and on for the past 10 years, and her favorites are Michigan Lotto, The Big Game and the instant games. She said she always plays the same two sets of numbers on Michigan Lotto and The Big Game — one set consists of the birthdays of her children, husband and herself, and the other of the birthdays of her brothers, sister and herself. The second set of numbers was the winning set in this instance!
The winning Michigan Lotto ticket was sold at Smokers Express-Shelby, 47079 Van Dyke Ave., in Shelby Township. Prior to turning the winning ticket in at Lottery headquarters, the winner said she kept it in a jewelry box and then later moved it to a Bible to ensure its safety.
The lucky lady said she plans to use part of her winnings to purchase a new house for her family and invest the rest for the future. For other Lottery hopefuls, the winner offered the following words of wisdom: "You can’t win unless you buy a ticket!"
The winner became the fourth Shelby Township area resident in Michigan Lottery history to win a Lotto jackpot prize. Combined, these lucky Shelby Township area winners have collected over $20 million in Michigan Lotto jackpot prizes!
Michigan Lotto drawings are conducted every Wednesday and Saturday. The guaranteed jackpot for Saturday’s (January 8) drawing is $2 million.
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