COLUMBIA, S.C. _ The South Carolina Education Lottery is reporting that a winning ticket to the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot was sold in the Palmetto State.
Mega Millions confirmed in a press release Wednesday that the winning ticket was sold in South Carolina, with the numbers 5, 28, 62, 65,70 and a mega number 5. Mega Millions officials referred to the $1.537 billion jackpot as "historic."
There has not been a Mega Millions ticket sold with "all six numbers" matching the drawing since July 24, allowing the jackpot to roll over for 13 consecutive weeks and the prize to swell.
"The wait is now on to find out where in South Carolina the jackpot-winning ticket was bought, and we might not find that out straight away, as the winner will have up to 180 days to claim their prize," said a release from Lottery.net, a site devoted to lottery news.
The director of the South Carolina lottery, Hogan Brown, was in New York City Wednesday morning for a meeting, and told "Good Morning America" that the name of the store that sold the ticket won't be released until midday. That's because "security officials are making sure protocol was followed," he said.
South Carolina is one of seven states that allows lottery winners to remain anonymous, including, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas, reports ABC News.
The winner has the option of taking the cash lump sum of $913 million before taxes, or an annuity of $1.6 billion in 30 payments. "The payments increase in value by 5 percent each year, but they will average out at around $50 million per year over the course of the annuity," says Lottery.net.
The odds of winning Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot were 1 in 303 million, according to the S.C. Lottery.
In addition to the massive payout, there could be another historical aspect to the jackpot. In January, the S.C. Lottery said the Palmetto State hadn't ever before produced a Mega Millions jackpot winner, The State reported.
The lottery jackpot now falls to $40 million and the next Mega Millions drawing is Friday, said a Mega Millions press release.
