Winning $448M Powerball ticket sold in Calif.
LOS ANGELES — A sole winning Powerball ticket worth $447.8 million and matching all six numbers was sold in Southern California and will claim the 10th largest lottery prize in U.S. history, lottery officials said Sunday.
The winning ticket was sold at Marietta Liquor & Deli in the small city of Menifee, the California Lottery said in a statement. Lottery officials said the earliest the ticket could be redeemed is 8 a.m. Monday, and the winner has one year to claim the prize.
The store just off a highway caters to retirees who live in the Sun City part of Menifee that was originally developed as a retirement community as well as to motorists passing through the area about 80 miles from Los Angeles.
Liquor store owner Matthew Alberre said he does not know which of his customers won the jackpot or what his family will do with the $1 million bonus set aside for the retailer that sells the winning ticket.
“We’re so blessed for this to happen,” said Alberre, who owns the store with his father.
Sun City residents were wondering if they might know the winner.
At a breakfast at the local Knights of Columbus organization, Armand Blais said people there hoped the ticketholder lived in their community and would assist their efforts to build a new church.
“We’re hoping they’re a parishioner and they’ll bring us a check tomorrow,” said Blais, president of the Sun City Civic Association’s board.
Sun City has about 4,700 homes developed in the 1960s for residents age 55 and older. Today, they are part of Menifee, population 89,000, but those living in Sun City still proudly call the community by its original name, Blais said.
The homes are clustered around a golf course, and residents join in activities ranging from tai chi and swimming to woodworking and shuffleboard, according to the association’s website.
Menifee Mayor Neil Winter said he hoped a local resident bought the winning ticket at the store in a heavily visited intersection that has sold winners before but never for so much.
The lucky numbers drawn Saturday night were 20-2632-38-58, and the Powerball number was 3.