A MISSOURI MECHANIC and his unemployed wife have come forward as holders of one of two winning tickets in the second largest lottery in US history: a $587.5 million Powerball jackpot.
At a press conference in their local high school, Mark and Cindy Hill vowed to stay grounded and not let the massive windfall go to their heads after receiving a check for $293,750,000.
The lucky Hills may be planning a trip to Ireland after their windfall to rediscover their Irish roots, according to reports.
Irish Central reported that when asked where they would like to go, Cindy responded “Ireland of course – we’re Irish, and wherever the win takes us”.
The couple, who have three sons and an adopted daughter said they were planning on going on holiday and taking all of their children and grandchildren.
“And I think we’re going to set up accounts for all the kids, grandkids and nieces and nephews for college,” Cindy Hill said
The family also plans to donate a substantial portion of their winnings to charity.
The owner of the other winning ticket, which was purchased in Arizona, has not yet been announced but a security camera may have caught his dance of joy.
(Uploaded by ABC News)
Freddy Lopez, a cashier at Marlboro Village Exxon in the Washington, DC area, said the beefy, bald man – seen in a store surveillance video in a bright yellow construction outfit – was a regular customer “in the military” who lived nearby.
“He didn’t know (he was a winner) until he checked his tickets and he found out he was a millionaire in here,” Lopez told AFP on Friday.
“He couldn’t believe it. He said, ‘goddamn it, I got it, I got it,’ and then he started jumping up and down,” the cashier said, adding that the man was so excited he forgot what he came for — to fill his tank with gas.
The man told other customers he bought his tickets in Arizona, where state lottery officials said he has 180 days to claim his winnings, Washington television station WJLA reported.
- Additional reporting from AFP.
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