It’s a mystery as big as Texas itself; Who has the record $1.8 billion lotto ticket sold in the Lone Star State.
While the identity of the winner remains unknown, the store where the golden ticket was purchased has been shared with the world.
Big’s 103 convenience store in Fredericksburg, Texas has become the talk of the town after selling one of the two winning lottery tickets with the correct numbers in the entire US. The other winning ticket was purchased in Missouri, according to a Sunday morning announcement by the Texas Lottery Commission.
Big’s has embraced its new found fame, announcing on its glass storefront, ‘Winning Powerball SOLD HERE!’
Store employees woke up to the exciting news shared on an employee group text, the store manager shared.
‘We have no details on when exactly the ticket was sold, who might have bought it, or which employee facilitated the sale. We are eager to find out though,’ shared Melanie Carter, the 36-year-old manager of the store, with DailyMail.com.
Carter worked on Sunday, a day she wasn’t scheduled to work, to deal with the media and frenzy at the store.
Big’s 103, situated at 11905 E. U.S. Highway 290 in Fredericksburg, Texas, is one of the two lucky locations in the nation that sold tickets for Saturday’s mind-blowing $1.8 billion Powerball® Grand Prize, the second largest prize ever in US history.
The Fredericksburg gas station and convenience store quickly embraces its ties with the winning jackpot
The manager claims the store has not been in touch with the state lottery officials and only knows what has been made public.
‘Our locals definitely have come in, and we’ve asked every one of our locals, ‘Was it you? Was it you? Was it you,”‘ she said.
Carter confirmed that the new millionaire selected their numbers by hand, as opposed to opting for a quick pick, where the computer randomly generates the numbers.
The Texas Lottery Commission added that this mystery winner took the cash option when purchasing their ticket, choosing a lump sum instead of receiving payments over time.
That means the lucky individual will receive an approximately $410.3 million lump sum before taxes, allowing them to remain anonymous.
The winner has yet to reach out to state officials but still holds 180 days from the drawing date to come forward and claim the jackpot at the state lottery’s Austin headquarters.
‘It’s mind-blowing. Everything thinks, “It’s not going to happen to us.” It always happens in California, but for this to happen here is really exciting,’ Carter stated.
The winner from the Lone Star State picked their own numbers through a form that has to be filled out by hand. Texas’s newest millionaire will have to split the $1.8 billion-jackpot with the winner from Missouri
Big 103 area supervisor Jaime Aquirre, 43, (left) and Big 103 store manager Melanie Carter, 36, (right) welcomed reporters into their Fredericksburg store, calling it a great marking opportunity after one of two Powerball tickets was sold there
Bigs 103 could get a $250,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot-winning ticket, the Texas Lottery Commission said Sunday
Lottery ticket sales jumped Sunday, employees told Daily Mail
Carter added the store has only been open since February, and they don’t have any prior experience with winning jackpots.
‘We hope the winner is a local. We hope it’s somebody who needed it, but you really never know. As many people who travel who come through our doors, it could very well be someone who stopped to buy a ticket traveling through,’ Carter added.
Fredericksburg, known as a tourist hot spot because of its wineries in beautiful Texas Hill Country, sees hordes of visitors on the weekends.
Big’s 103 is on Highway 290, which takes drivers from the town the bustling capital city, Austin, about 1.5 hours away.
The store itself will likely get a $250,000 retailer bonus for selling the prize.
Carter didn’t know how the money would be spent, but she hoped the cashier who sold the ticket might be rewarded somehow.
In the meantime, the mini mart is already raking it in as lottery sales jumped in the wake of the jackpot news.
‘They’ve been coming in because they want the lucky store. Hey, this is the best marketing,’ Big 103 area supervisor Jaime Aquirre said.
Employees at the gas station spent their shifts speculating about who might have won, but they also know Texas allows winners to claim prizes of over $1 million without being named.
‘A lot of people claim it anonymously and maybe we’ll never know,’ Carter said as she sighed.
Once the money is spoken for, state officials can release the city or county of residence of the winner, even if they decided to remain unnamed.
‘If you believe you are the lucky ticket holder, we recommend that you sign your ticket, keep it in a safe place, seek financial and legal advice, and then call the Texas Lottery to schedule an appointment to claim the prize,’ officials cautioned.
