Lottery authority in the US state of Tennessee verified Friday that a couple from the small town of Munford had claimed one third of the world-record 1.6-billion-U.S.-dollar Powerball jackpot.
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Hundreds gather outside the 7-Eleven, after it was announced the winning Powerball ticket was sold at the store, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 in Chino Hills, Calif. One winning ticket was sold at the store located in suburban Los Angeles said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for California lottery.
On Thursday, two of the non-jackpot winners also came forward: A 25-year-old woman in a suburb of Baltimore won about US$50,000 ($77,000), and another woman in Stafford, Virginia won US$1 million. “All these years, I’ve wondered what it would be like to call my mom and tell her I won the lottery”. Their lawyer went with them, as did their rescue dog, Abby, who snoozed through most of the excitement. “I hope whoever got it needs it”, Helen Sweat, Dyersburg resident, said. “You know what happens”.
Lisa and John Robinson of Munford, Tennessee told the Today show they had won and said they appeared on the television show on the advice of their lawyer.
“I checked the ticket and saw that we won”, Kathryn told the Maryland Lottery.
“I didn’t know exactly what do to, ” John said.
John and Lisa Robinson walked into the headquarters in Nashville on Friday afternoon and were greeted by the head of the state’s lottery. The couple is in their middle 50s, neighbors said.
The couple plans to pay off their daughter’s student loans and their mortgage, and donate money to their local church.
The Robinsons’ daughter, Tiffany, who lives nearby, is a recent college graduate in her 20s. The couple said that they would drive back to Tennessee to cash in their ticket immediately after the interview.
“I handed the tickets to her and said, ‘I’m going to lay down, ‘” John recalled.
“I 100 per cent believe he deserves this”, Sonia Atwal, one of his three daughters, was quoted by NBC News as saying.
She stayed up to watch Wednesday night’s draw, carefully writing down the numbers. “I knew that I wanted to get an accountant”.
John said he bought four tickets to represent the four members of their family, and chose the Quick Pick option. When he got home, he gave the tickets to his wife and went to lie down. He says it would be hard to find anything else that has generated this much public interest in the city.
John and Lisa Robinson appeared on NBC’s “Today” show claiming they’re among the winners of Wednesday’s drawing.
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“I think the American public wants to hear from them, and even though they want to be private after this is over, they want to let the public know that they’re the winners, ” Townsend said on TODAY.
