Powerball ticket sold in Great Falls wins $1 million
A Montana Lottery spokeswoman confirmed Thursday that a Powerball ticket sold in Great Falls won a $1 million prize in the Wednesday night drawing.
According to communications specialist Stephanie Hauptman, the winning ticket was sold at the Cenex Zip Trip on Fox Farm Road.
As of noon Thursday, no one had come forward to claim the prize.
"That's all the info we have so far," Hauptman said. "They'll probably show up today if they figure it out. Usually they are claimed pretty quickly, especially when it's a big amount like that."
Employees at the store declined to comment, citing company policy.
Wednesday's winning numbers were 08, 12, 15, 35, 50 and the Powerball 32. The winner of the $1 million prize correctly selected all five numbers but not the Powerball. After state and federal taxes, the Great Falls winner will receive a lump sum payment of approximately $680,000.
Nobody won the Powerball jackpot Wednesday, which was estimated to be worth $90 million. The top prize will continue to grow until at least next week's drawing, when the Powerball Jackpot is expected to be worth $100 million. The odds of winning the jackpot with a single lottery ticket purchase are roughly 175 million to one.
Montana is one of 44 states plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that participate in the Powerball lottery. The winning ticket purchased in Great Falls was the only $1 million winner in Wednesday's drawing. Whoever bought that ticket has until Sept. 4 to claim their prize, or the unclaimed money will be transferred to the Montana state general fund.
While that eventuality is unlikely, there have been many instances in the past when lottery prizes were left unclaimed. In December 2011 a Powerball ticket purchased at a truck stop near the Georgia/Alabama state line went unredeemed. The $77 million prize rolled over and was re-entered into the Georgia lottery pool. In 1996, Clarance Jackson Jr. bought a winning ticket in the Connecticut Lotto, but failed to turn it in until three days after the year-long collection deadline had passed. Jackson never recieved a single cent of the $5.8 million he won, and later claimed he'd been busy caring for his sick father and just didn't have the time to pick up his millions.
According to USA Today, the biggest unclaimed prize for a lottery ticket sold in Montana is $100,000.
"Sometimes people aren't aware there are secondary prizes, or some people just keep the ticket in their wallet and just forget about it," Hauptman said.
In addition to the $1 million Powerball ticket drawn Wednesday, two smaller lottery prizes still remain unclaimed in Montana; a $10,000 Montana Millionaire prize from a ticket sold at the Hardin Express Center last December, and a $6,000 prize from a Wild Card lottery ticket sold at a Town Pump in Bozeman last November.
Lottery prizes of $599 or less can be claimed from the retailer where the ticket was purchased. All prizes over $599 must be claimed at Montana Lottery headquarters in Helena, either in person or by mail. Montana law prohibits lottery winners from remaining anonymous.
"Montana is a transparency state, so there is no option to be anonymous," Hauptman said. "We can legally release their name, the win amount and the city that they're from, but they don't have to let us take a picture or do an interview or anything like that."