Lottery officials sent a statement announcing that
Mark and Cindy Hill, of Dearborn, held one of two winning tickets for
the nation’s biggest Powerball jackpot.
“It’s really going to be nice to spend time — not
have to work — and be able to take trips with our family,” Cindy Hill, a
former office manager laid off in June 2010, said in the statement.
Her husband, Mark, is a mechanic at the Hillshire
Brands meat processing plant in St. Joseph. The couple adopted a
daughter from China five years ago and are now considering a second
adoption with their winnings, according to the statement. They also plan
to help other relatives, including their grandchildren and nieces and
nephews, pay for college.
The Hills will split the nearly $588 million prize
with whoever holds a winning ticket sold at a convenience store in
suburban Phoenix. No one has come forward yet with the Arizona ticket,
lottery officials said.
The $587.5 million payout, which represents the
second-largest jackpot in U.S. history, set off a nationwide buying
frenzy, with tickets at one point selling at nearly 130,000 per minute.
Before Wednesday’s drawing, the jackpot had rolled over 16 consecutive
times without someone hitting the jackpot.
Lottery officials’ announcement that the Hills had
one only confirmed what many residents in Dearborn, a town of about 500
about 40 miles north of Kansas City, already knew. Lottery officials
said Thursday that a winning ticket had been sold at a Trex Mart gas
station and convenience store on the edge of town, and the Hills’ names
circulated quickly. While the Hills did not speak to reporters, friends
and relatives identified the couple as the winners.
Myron Anderson, pastor of the Baptist Church in
nearby Camden Point, said he heard Thursday that the Hills had won the
huge lottery prize. Anderson said he has known Mark Hill since they
attended high school together.
“He’s a really nice guy, and I know his wife, and
they have this nice little adopted daughter that they went out of their
way to adopt,” Anderson said. Funeral services for Hill’s father were at
the Baptist church, but the family attends church elsewhere, he said.
“I hope it’s good news for them,” Anderson said.
“I’ve heard awful horror stories about people who get all that money in
their lap and how everybody treats them, and if you don’t mind me
saying, I mean just the fact that the press is going to be after them.”
Kevin Bryan, a lifelong Dearborn resident, said the
only other local lottery winner he could remember was a farmer who won
about $100,000 in scratch-off game years ago “and bought himself a
combine.”
The statement from the lottery didn’t indicate
whether the Hills planned to take their payout as a lump sum or in
annual payments. Mark Hill does have his eye at least one thing: a red
Camaro.
“I was just telling my daughter the night before,
‘Honey, that probably never happens,” Cindy Hill said about their odds
of hitting the jackpot.
The winning ticket sold in Arizona was purchased at
a 4 Sons Food Store in Fountain Hills near Phoenix, state lottery
officials said.
In a Mega Millions drawing in March, three ticket buyers shared a $656 million jackpot, the largest lottery payout of all time.
Hill and the holder of the Arizona winning ticket
have numerous decisions ahead, including how to accept their new wealth.
The cash payout from the overall jackpot has been estimated at about
$385 million, or about $192.5 million for each ticket. The winners can
take their jackpots in lump sums or annual payments.