Powerball jackpot climbs to $1.5 billion but two Californians walk away millionaires
Two California residents scooped $1.5 billion in the world’s largest lottery jackpot Monday night.
But they won’t be able to celebrate their victory for some time because they’re still out of cash.
According to a lottery official in Pennsylvania, the winner of the Mega Millions was supposed to cash in his prize on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
That didn’t happen.
Instead, the ticket holder’s family sent a check and a cashier’s check in an envelope to lottery officials in Indiana at 1:44 p.m. CT.
The winner’s family also sent a letter with a signed copy of the Mega Millions winning ticket to a California Lottery headquarters in Sacramento, California.
The letter told lottery officials to “receive all future correspondence and mail you a letter with a sealed envelope containing the complete winning ticket or winning slip,” according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
That was sent nearly three hours before the Pennsylvania lottery official said the winner had to mail the check in to pay the cash prize out of his prize.
“There are no winners of the large jackpot,” Pennsylvania Lottery spokesman Phil Wright told ABC News on Monday.
“We have received the winning ticket and have determined it is a winner in Pennsylvania,” he said. “All information as provided was completely accurate.”
Wright also said the jackpot was paid out of the Mega Millions prize pool.
The winner was expected to be notified on Tuesday, he said.
In the letter sent to lottery officials in Pennsylvania, the winner’s family wrote that they made the “extraordinary and generous” decision to send lottery officials a check and bank check.
They also wrote that they “have faith that Pennsylvania lottery officials, and lottery officials in California, will honor your wishes when they come in the next few days.”
California lottery officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
It took lottery officials in Pennsylvania almost three hours from the