Powerball Jackpot of $758 Million Prize Claimed by Mother-of-Two
The winner of the $758 million Powerball is a medical center worker and mother of two from Chicopee, Massachusetts.
Mavis L. Wanczyk, 53, won the massive fortune on Wednesday night after the numbers — 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, with a Powerball of 4 — were drawn at 10:59 p.m.
"I had a pipe dream and my pipe dream has finally come true," Wanczyk said during a press conference on Thursday.
Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Wanczyk's win is the largest on a single ticket in North American history. The odds of picking all six numbers correctly were about one in 292.2 million.
"I work at Mercy Medical Center," Wanczyk said. "... I have called to tell them I will not be coming back."
The single winning ticket was sold at the Pride Station & Store convenience store in Chicopee, the Massachusetts State Lottery announced.
Pride founder Bob Bolduc told reporters on Thursday that he intended to donate the store’s portion of the winnings.
"We’re happy for our customer and we're happy for the charities we're going to give our commission to," Bolduc said. "They will all be local because we support all our local charities already. We will just be dividing it up between them."
The state lottery had originally said the winning ticket was sold in Watertown but corrected its announcement a few hours later.
"This was the result of a human error," Michael Sweeney, executive director of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, said at a news conference on Thursday. "Our internal systems, and I want to be clear about this, our internal systems always had the correct information."
Almost 10 million more players won prizes totaling more than $135 million, it said, and the New Jersey Lottery said two tickets worth $1 million each were sold.
Wednesday night's jackpot trails only a $1.6 billion prize that was divided among winners in three states in January 2016. The result means the next jackpot resets at "only" $40 million.
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Very nice. I like the 'I work at.....' called them and told them 'I won't be back.....'
I also like the owner of the store saying they will donate their commission to local charities. Nice, classy and keeping it local.
Based on the info, I bet there's at least one baby-daddy trying to figure out how out get back into her good graces.....
I bet there's at least one baby-daddy
Why would you assume there's any "baby daddy" ?
It is great that the store donated their winnings.
As the story only mentioned Mother and 2 children.
As the story only mentioned Mother and 2 children.
A mother who happens to be a 53 year old women with two grown children.
Why would your first assumption be that she's an unmarried mother? At 53, why not divorced or a widowed?
Happy for you Ms Wanczyk and wishing you the best of luck with all the crazy that comes next.
At 53, why not divorced or a widowed?
Looks like she was a bit of both.
Powerball winner’s ex-husband was killed in 2016 hit-and-run
BOSTON (AP) — The ex-husband of the woman who won the $758.7 million Powerball prize was killed last year in a hit-and-run.
MassLive.com reports ( ) that court records show Mavis and William Wanczyk (WAHN’-zihk) had divorced in 2012.
William Wanczyk was killed in November when he was sitting at a bus shelter in Amherst, Massachusetts, and a pickup truck plowed into it, killing him.
He was 55 years old, living in nearby Northampton. He had served as a Northampton firefighter from 1986 to 1989 before being injured on the job.
A 20-year-old man was arrested several months later and charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, drunken driving and other charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mavis Wanczyk’s prize was the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history.
I wish her the very best of luck! Unfortunately, I think there is more heartache ahead for her...