Powerball Winner of $430M Jackpot Remains a Mystery
— -- The person who had the sole winning ticket of Saturday's $429.6 million Powerball jackpot bought only two tickets -- one for Wednesday's draw and one for Saturday's draw -- and spent a total of $6.
The winner, who has yet to come forward, purchased the winning ticket Tuesday at 5:20 p.m. at a 7-Eleven in the state capital of New Jersey, Trenton, said Carole Hedinger, New Jersey Lottery executive director. She said the winner picked his or her own numbers.
The winner chose the cash payout option for the ticket, which is "the present value of the advertised estimated jackpot amount in a lump sum," according to the New Jersey lottery Powerball rules. The cash ticket is is valued at $284 million, state lottery officials said.
This is the sixth largest win in the game’s history, they added, and the largest single jackpot winning ticket ever sold in New Jersey.
"I hope the winner is watching," Hedinger said at a news conference this morning. "Whoever you are, please come forward."
Hedinger recommended that the winner put the ticket in a safe place, come to lottery headquarters and "get professional advice."
She said winners generally wait some time to come forward so they can consult with family and professionals.
Hedinger added that, in New Jersey, winners have one year to claim a winning ticket.
Andrea Shin, who has owned the Trenton 7-Eleven store for 10 years, was presented with a check today for $30,000.
On Sunday, Shin told ABC News she was shocked.
"The chances are ridiculous," she said. "It's exciting."
"I'm just happy that it was somebody that's close," Shin added.
"The people around here can use it," said Shin's husband, Luis Soler, who also works at the Trenton store. "Whoever it is hopefully does some really good things with it."
"It's a very small neighborhood," Soler said. "We see a lot of the same people every day."
"I'm excited for them!"
The winning numbers drawn Saturday evening were: 25, 66, 44, 5, 26. The Powerball was 9.
