On Wednesday, March 15th, North Carolina lottery officials announced that someone had purchased a $2 Mega Millions ticket at a Food Lion store in North Carolina and had won a $1 million prize in the national drawing held on Tuesday. However, it remained unclear if the winner was aware of their big win as nobody had come forward to claim the prize yet.
According to a lottery news release, no one had immediately claimed the prize, and the winner has six months to come forward to claim it. The ticket was sold at the store on Idlewild Road in Indian Trail, officials said.
The North Carolina winner joined two others nationwide to land a $1 million prize, with the others coming from California and Iowa, according to the lottery. The three winners managed to beat odds of 1 in 12.6 million by matching all of the white balls in the drawing, which were 1, 7, 23, 38, and 55, according to the Mega Millions page on NCLottery.com.
While no one hit the Mega Millions jackpot in Tuesday’s drawing, the jackpot has climbed to $254 million for Friday’s drawing, with a cash prize of $133.7 million. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million.
Players can buy Mega Millions tickets at lottery retailers, through Online Play on the lottery website, and on the NC Lottery app.
The Mega Millions lottery has been around since 1996 and is available in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a multi-state lottery game played in 45 states, with players selecting five white balls from a pool of 70 numbers and one gold Mega Ball from a pool of 25 numbers.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are incredibly slim, with a one in 302.5 million chance of winning. However, players can still win smaller prizes by matching some of the white balls or the Mega Ball.
In addition to Mega Millions, the North Carolina Education Lottery also offers a variety of other games, including Powerball, Cash 5, and Pick 4, among others.
The North Carolina Education Lottery was established in 2005 and has since raised more than $7.5 billion for education-related programs across the state. These programs include pre-K education, college scholarships, and support for school construction and repairs.
As of now, the winner of the $1 million prize in North Carolina has yet to come forward to claim their prize. However, with six months to do so, there is still time for the lucky winner to realize their good fortune and claim their winnings.
