An unemployed office manager and her husband from a rural hamlet in the Midwestern U.S. state of Missouri have come forward to claim one half of the multi-state $588 million lottery jackpot known as Powerball.
Cindy Hill and her husband Mark, a 52-year-old mechanic, were introduced to the public on Friday in Dearborn, Missouri, a town of 496 residents about 50 kilometers north of Kansas City. The Hills chose to take their winnings in a lump sum payment of $192.5 million, rather than annual payments. After taxes, the couple will net $136.5 million.
A second winning ticket was sold in the U.S. state of Arizona, but no one by late Friday had claimed that share. Under "Powerball" jackpot rules, the winner has 180 days from the date of the drawing to come forward.
Lottery jackpots grow every time there is a drawing with no winner. Prior to Wednesday's drawing, there had been no winners in the twice-weekly drawings for two months.
In another U.S. lottery drawing earlier this year, three ticket buyers shared a $656-million jackpot, the largest U.S. payout of all time.