From the Maryland Lottery:
Nearly two months ago, the 63-year-old, along with the rest of an enrapt nation, watched all of the hoopla surrounding the March 30th Mega Millions drawing. Although the historic drawing produced a winning ticket in Maryland, he knew immediately that he had not won the jackpot. “I saw where the ticket was purchased and knew I wasn’t the winner,” said the man, who chose to remain anonymous.
It wasn’t until about a week and a half ago, when he and his wife were watching television, that it occurred to him to check his tickets. “I was watching a show and it reported that there were still three $250,000 unclaimed tickets out there,” he said. “When I saw one of them was sold at Redner’s, I thought ‘I’d better check them.”
The father-of-one retrieved the tickets from where he had placed them with “the intention of checking them later on” and proceeded to check them online. “My wife was there and she said, ‘why are you looking at me like that,’” said the winner. “I told her, ‘I think we matched five numbers.’”
Both were incredulous and skeptical and doubled-checked the ticket with one reading the numbers and the other verifying them. “It was just unbelievable,” said the winner. “Needless to say, it was a pleasant surprise.” The winner intends to use his “pleasant surprise” for healthcare costs and to pay off debt. “We just feel very blessed,” he said in parting.
The winning ticket was purchased at Redner’s Warehouse Market, located at 2126 N. Fountain Green Rd. in Bel Air. There are still two $250,000 second-tier Mega Millions tickets, which remain unclaimed. One ticket is from the May 1, 2012 drawing and was sold at 7-11, located at 1302 Churchville Rd. in Bel Air. The other remaining unclaimed ticket was from the March 30th drawing and was sold at 7-11, located at 9709 Beaver Dam Rd. in Timonium.
Since its inception in 1973, the Maryland Lottery has awarded more than $18.73 billion in prizes to players and $12.2 billion in revenue to the State of Maryland. One of Maryland’s largest revenue sources, the Lottery supports important state programs and services including education, public safety and health, human resources and the environment. For more information, go to www.mdlottery.com.
Congratulations! Hoping he and his family are blessed with an equal amount of happiness!! Godspeed.
Congratulations to this gentleman and his family…I’m very happy someone from Harford County is the winner!
Congratulations to the winner. But by definition, second-tier is not the jackpot. The headline is inaccurate.