By MARIA SUDEKUM
Associated Press
DEARBORN, Mo. (AP) - A
52-year-old Missouri mechanic and his wife claimed their share Friday of
the record $588 million Powerball jackpot.
Lottery officials sent a
statement Friday announcing that Mark and Cindy Hill, of Dearborn, held
one of two winning tickets for the nation's biggest Powerball jackpot.
The Hills will split the $588
million prize with whoever holds a winning ticket sold at a convenience
store in suburban Phoenix. No one has come forward yet with the Arizona
ticket, lottery officials said.
The $587.5 million payout, which
represents the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history, set off a
nationwide buying frenzy, with tickets at one point selling at nearly
130,000 per minute. Before Wednesday's winners, the jackpot had rolled
over 16 consecutive times without someone hitting the jackpot.
Lottery officials' announcement
that the Hills had won only confirmed what many residents in Dearborn, a
town of about 500 about 40 miles north of Kansas City, already knew.
Lottery officials said Thursday that one winning ticket had been sold at
a Trex Mart gas station and convenience store on the edge of town, and
Mark Hill's name circulated quickly. While he and his wife did not speak
to reporters, friends and relatives identified Mark Hill as the winner.
Myron Anderson, pastor of the
Baptist Church in nearby Camden Point, said he heard Thursday that the
Hills had won the huge lottery prize. Anderson said he has known Mark
Hill since they attended high school together and that the couple have
older children and a younger elementary school-age daughter.
"He's a really nice guy, and I
know his wife, and they have this nice little adopted daughter that they
went out of their way to adopt," Anderson said. Funeral services for
Hill's father were at the Baptist church, but the family attends church
elsewhere, he said.
"I hope it's good news for
them," Anderson said. "I've heard awful horror stories about people who
get all that money in their lap and how everybody treats them, and if
you don't mind me saying, I mean just the fact that the press is going
to be after them."
Kevin Bryan, a lifelong Dearborn
resident, said the only other local lottery winner he could remember
was a farmer who won about $100,000 in scratch-off game years ago "and
bought himself a combine."
The winning ticket sold in
Arizona was purchased at a 4 Sons Food Store in Fountain Hills near
Phoenix, state lottery officials said.
In a Mega Millions drawing in March, three ticket buyers shared a $656 million jackpot, the largest lottery payout of all time.
Hill and the holder of the
Arizona winning ticket have numerous decisions ahead, including how to
accept their new wealth. The cash payout from the overall jackpot has
been estimated at about $385 million, or about $192.5 million for each
ticket. The winners can take their jackpots in lump sums or annual
payments.
