Winning Mega Millions lottery ticket for $349M jackpot sold in DeKalb County
Winning ticket sold at Casey's General Store in Cortland, Illinois
DEKALB COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- A winning Mega Millions ticket worth $349 million was sold this week in DeKalb County, Illinois.
The winning ticket was for Tuesday night's drawing and was sold at Casey's General Store in Cortland, Illinois.
There's a lot of excitement flowing through the small town as everyone is wondering who has the winning ticket.
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The winning numbers were 1, 5, 17, 39 and 62, plus the gold Mega Ball 8.
The jackpot, which had been growing since January 17, was worth $349 million, with a cash option of $161.4 million.
People in Cortland are anxious to find out if it's one of their neighbors who won the jackpot, and the Casey's gas station is of course thrilled to cash in on a bonus themselves.
The Casey's General Store on Somonauk Road was bustling with customers Wednesday as they congratulated the store on selling Tuesday's winning Mega Millions lottery ticket.
Casey's district manager Kim Shaw said they got a call Wednesday morning about the shocking news.
"It was so exciting, and it was like, 'Do we know who won?' And no we don't," Shaw said. "I called the store manager and said, 'Guess what. You won. Your store sold the winning ticket,' and she was like, 'Oh my gosh.'"
The winner has not come forward yet, and everyone in town is wondering who it could be. Many are hoping it's someone who lives in Cortland, with a tight knit community there ready to celebrate together.
"I think it's awesome. I hope it's a resident of Cortland. I hope it's someone who needed the money," resident Douglas Corson said. "I'm running for mayor currently, and we're trying to get investors into town, so maybe if that person's out there watching, you want to step up and help us out, that would be amazing."
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"It's great," resident John Kupp said. "It can happen to anybody. You never know, so you gotta play."
The Illinois Lottery said this is the fourth person to win the Mega Millions jackpot in the state in nearly four years. Every lottery ticket sold also helps the state's education system, as the Illinois Lottery donates nine of the 24 million dollars in ticket sales to the state's common school fund supporting K-12 education.
It's also a big win for the Casey's gas station in Cortland, as they'll soon receive a $500,000 dollar bonus for selling the winning ticket.
"It's amazing. This is the first time we've done anything this big, so don't know any of those details yet," Shaw said. "That's all to come, but right now, we're just really happy for the winner. Can't wait for them to maybe show themselves and celebrate with them."
The Illinois Lottery folks said it usually takes quite some time for a winner to come forward.
In the meantime, more people in Cortland have been picking up scratch offs and lottery tickets hoping to find some of that good luck.
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Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mega Millions tickets are $2 each, and players have the option to add the Megaplier for an additional $1 for the chance to multiply non-jackpot prizes.
Starting April 5, tickets will change from $2 to $5. Lottery officials say the will create bigger jackpots.
