Officials said when the victor claims the prize they’ll share a record jackpot of $1.58 billion with winners in California and Florida. And Lisa Robinson said she wants to return to work on Monday, because she “loves her job”. “‘John, John, you’ve got to check these numbers!’ And I startled him because he was asleep on the couch”.
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“I’m very happy for them”, Roy Smith said.
David Levy, an operator at the center, told the publication that the lucky lotto victor was at work when she found out but completed her shift. But a Powerball spokeswoman confirmed that the winning tickets must be claimed in the states in which they were purchased.
Robinson said he would take the lump sum.
They said the first thing they will do is pay off their daughter’s student loans.
Most of the members said they will use the money to help pay off debt. Seven tickets winning $50,000 were sold in the state. Those winners have not been announced yet.
They haven’t presented the ticket to Tennessee lottery officials for verification.
“(I was) a little scared because I didn’t know exactly what do to, ” John Robinson said.
“I handed the tickets to her and said, ‘I’m going to lay down, ‘” John recalled. They bought four tickets at a local market on their way home before the drawing Wednesday night. Asked how she felt, Lisa Robinson said, “Like Christmas morning; like a big kid”. Winning tickets were also sold in California and Florida.
John Robinson leads the family dog as he walks to an elevator at the Tennessee Lottery headquarters, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Townsend, a “Today” show fan, advised the Robinsons to reach out to the show first rather than go to lottery officials so that they can “have control” of their story.
He did, four times, then thought: “Well, I’ll believe it when the news comes in on the morning and they say there’s a victor been in Munford”.
The Robinsons live in Munford, Tennessee – which has a population of about 6,000 and just one stoplight. They described them as ideal neighbors, and said the family is kind, polite and always helpful if there was ever a time of need.
“Oh my gosh it couldn’t have happened to a better person”, Levy said.
Walker’s winning ticket matched all five of the white ball numbers, but did not match the Powerball.
John and Lisa Robinson are the newest millionaires in West Tennessee.
John Robinson works in information technology, and Lisa is employed at a dermatologist’s office. The couple is in their middle 50s. He was going to tell her about the win when she came over.
The Today Show airs at 7 a.m. on NBC4. Neither of the owners of those tickets had come forward to claim the prize money as of today.
The odds of winning the jackpot were one in more than 292 million.
It didn’t take long before several media outlets reported, based on anonymous sources, that the feel-good tale was a prank by the woman’s son.
“It’s a joke”, the nurse’s daughter, Jennifer, told the New York Daily News on January 14.
The Powerball jackpot, which hadn’t been won since early November, led to a lottery frenzy nationwide.
Walker purchased the winning ticket at Sav-A-Ton, located at 199 North Country Club Road in Lake Mary.
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Their daughter Tiffany, who flew with them to NY and back, also wants a horse.
