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Subscribe to RSSOne set of winners, from Missouri, has already come forward. But mystery still surrounds the person who bought the winning ticket in Arizona. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
A six-year-old girl may get the pony she has dreamed of owning, thanks to the record Powerball jackpot her family just won.
The Hill family of Dearborn, Mo., who won half of the jackpot worth $587.5 million, appeared at a press conference on Friday with six-year-old Jaiden, who was adopted from China, clutching a stuffed horse as her parents were handed an oversized check made out for their share: $293,750,000.
"We’re still stunned by what’s happened. It's surreal and people keep asking us, 'What are you going to buy with it?' I just want to go home and be back to normal," Cindy Hill, 51, said at the press conference in which she, her husband Mark, their three adult sons and daughter Jaiden were introduced to the nation.
Since winning, the couple has considered adopting again, according to the lottery. Mark has spoken of getting a red Camaro; they also would like to take Jaiden to the beach, since she's never been to one. And they plan to start college funds for their grandchildren and nieces and nephews, as well as set up a scholarship fund at the local high school in Mark's father's name.
They are also looking forward to not working and traveling together as a family using their winnings, Hill added.
As for the pony, it will be coming -- but later.
"The pony’s not going to be for a while," Cindy said Friday. "I think we’re going to just stick with what we have planned, and maybe after the first year, go on a big vacation.”
Cindy Hill, the matriarch of the Missouri family who half the record $580 million Powerball jackpot, and her children talk about their new life as millionaires.
After hearing on Thursday morning that one of the winning tickets was sold in Missouri -- the other was sold in Arizona -- Cindy dropped her Jaiden off at school, went to a convenience store for a winning numbers report, and checked her tickets in her car.
"I didn't have my glasses, and I was thinking, is that the right number? Is that the right number?" Cindy said.
Upon seeing that one of the five tickets she bought had the winning combination, Cindy said she headed straight to her mother-in-law's house and asked her to double-check the ticket. Husband Mark, 52, joined her there to see for himself.
With the odds of any single ticket winning the jackpot at 1 in 175 million, the Hills said they hardly gave a thought to winning. They spent $10 on tickets Wednesday evening and didn't check them again until Cindy saw they had won Thursday morning.
Cindy was an office manager until she was laid off in 2010; Mark works as a mechanic for Hillshire Brands, according to the Missouri Lottery.
They don't play the lottery often, and don't have any plans to move from Dearborn, a Kansas City suburb.
The couple traveled to Jefferson City, Mo., to meet with lottery officials after discovering they had won. When packing for the trip, Mark, still in shock over the magnitude of their win, said he stopped to buy toothpaste for his travel bag, and said, "I found myself in the store still looking at the prices."
"Old habits are hard to break," he said, adding, "We don't have the money yet!"
Dave Kaup / Reuters
Cindy Hill holds the microphone to six-year old daughter Jaiden, held by husband Mark as sons Jason and Cody, right, look on during a news conference on Friday.
David Troutman, a former high school classmate of the winning couple, said on TODAY that they first posted the news on Facebook.
"I was on Facebook and I saw that his wife had posted, ‘Thank you God, we won the lottery.’ Of course everybody in town, all his friends, gave all thumbs up. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy,’’ Troutman said.
The Hills are high school sweethearts. In the tiny town of Dearborn -- population, 496 -- their identity didn't stay secret for long.
“Word spread that he won so fast,’’ Troutman said. “I heard that it was a winner from Dearborn, and by the time I walked in the door my mom was on the phone, and she said, ‘He won. It was him.’ Who knows what the impact will be on Dearborn.’’
Jason, one of Cindy and Mark's sons, said Friday, "I hope we stay grounded. I hope we stay the same great people we were yesterday and the day before."
Dozens of others become instant millionaires too
Dearborn is about 35 miles north of Kansas City, the home of the Royals baseball team. While some speculated that the winning numbers -- 5, 23, 16, 22, 29 and Powerball 6 -- were based on Kansas City Royal greats' jersey numbers, the Hills said on Friday that they had done the computerized random quick-pick.
All but five states -- Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio -- require the lottery to release the winning names to anyone who asks, according to the Powerball site.
No one has come forward yet to claim the winning ticket in Arizona, but on Thursday, a mystery man showed up at a gas station in Upper Marlboro, Md., claiming to hold the big winner.
Surveillance video showed a man in a yellow construction suit slowly amble up to the counter, where he pulled out some lottery tickets. After confirming that the numbers on one of the tickets matched, he can be seen in the video repeatedly pumping his fists. It’s unclear what the man was doing in Maryland with a ticket ostensibly from Arizona.
NBC's Kerry Sanders reports from Dearborn, Mo., where the town is celebrating one family's luck of winning half the record Powerball jackpot. A family friend of the couple, expected to be named by lottery officials Friday, tells TODAY's Savannah Guthrie "it couldn't have happened to a better guy."
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Wow! Can't believe they came out so fast. I'd be scared to death that someone would kill me or something. lol Congrats to the family and I wish them the best in the future! I'd like to get about $5,000 for a storm shelter and i'd be happy. lol
I'm not in favor of the lottery but, if someone is going to win I just hope they are people who are going to do good with the money and it sounds like this family just might do that.
Find a financial advisor immediately!! Do not forget to give God what He is due, write a check to your household of faith ASAP!
God isn't due anything. He is omnipotent, what does he need money for?
Good on you Yank, don't let it ruin your life and don't let ANYONE talk you into giving some to them.
Good for them. Congratulations.
Congrats to the winners! What is it about people in Maryland claiming to have winning tickets??? The last big Mega Millions had some nutcase in Baltimore claiming to have won and now the guy mentioned in article is even from my hometown - how embarassing for the state.
They sound very deserving, I'm sincerely happy for them.
Seems funny from the some of the negative comments, that these people are just JEALOUS HATERS because they didn't win. I wish these people the best of luck.
It is really refreshing to hear a story like this. I was impressed that instead of the usual talk of how they are going to squander the moeny away, they talkled about adopting another child or so. This has renewed my faith in a society that has turned to material things. Great job and may God bless and guide them on this exciting jounery.
Not something to be proud of on Facebook. They must be totally ignorant how Facebook ruins lives, not on purpose, but the morons and psycos that use this social media. If I had won, I would never disclose my name until I am ready to leave the country with my family. I hope they know how to say the word NO to people that want a sudden hand out. With that kind of money it creates all kind of problems you never even think of, some problems are good, but some are very life altering and bad too.
Not a smart move to post their winning on Facebook. 80% probability these people's lives will be miserable within a few years (probably sooner). As for me, I'll stick with my uneventful life and remain in the shadows. Most people are leeches.
Plain Bob you just made my Friday, funny. I wish them luck. I wish MO didn't have that law to make it public but if they actually posted it on Facebook, I guess thay are not worried. If that had happened to me, not even my family will know...or especially my family won't know.
Good for them, I truly wish them the best, but could we stick to buying our children from our own country and not China? Plenty of kids here that need a good home. Oh, I forgot people don't buy children because the child needs a home, only because the family feels they are entitled to a child. Either that or they tried and were denied for legitimate reasons....just saying.
And why is it all news outlets all feel the need to segregate them as an adopted child? Do they not realize what that does to a person, by pointing out that they are not a "real child" of the couple?? Almost announcing to the world that they are not the same as the family's biological children?
I am glad for them. Hope they enjoy life.
If winning a ton of money brings such bad luck, unhappyness, bad health etc. Then why do so many people play?? I don't play, I'm to cheap!!! I'll also say most of the people that stood in those lines have more than a high school education & probably make $100k yearly. Of course education & a $100k job don't teach common sense.
Larry
Wishing all of the lottery winners the very best. Enjoy your lives and hopefully show generosity to those less fortunate in todays economic times.
Good Luck and Happy Holidays
PJ
Wonderful news..please take care of it and try not to take it for granted!
Congratulations winners!!!
well for one i would go into hiding and 2nd no way in hell i would post it on facebook and 3rd i would want my privacy unrevealed so no one would know who i was that won. anyway congrats to both of you and your family. now dont let that money turn you into a snob or a better than everyone else person.
294 million and all this guy can thing about is getting a red muscle car and taking his kid to the beach?? How about getting her a nice, big house on the Gulf coast and a lifetime investment portfolio so she can afford to pursue her education, take care of her health and fulfill her dreams in the future? He could buy/restore/sell muscle cars with a SMALL FRACTION of that as seed money, be happy as a dog with seven tails and keep his dough in the long run, he could also move to somewhere a lot nicer and now, more PRIVATE than Dearborn, Missouri.
Some folks need to get out more.
JOMO -sounds like they are just hardworking, down-to-earth people - good for them. There is no way the average person could even begin to fathom that amount of money and what will go along with it. They probably need a team of security first. Then a team of attorneys, accountants, financial managers and a second or third set to watch the first bunch.
Hope they can quickly set up an LLC or non-profit to handle all the requests for money they'll receive and then just take some cooling off time to celebrate and get their bearings.
Maybe he just won one of the smaller payouts or it was a knee jerk reaction to "Man I was this close to winning it"
reffering to the construction worker in the gas station in Md. btw......
Adopt me!
Anyone asks them for money to invest, tell them no. They need a manager and lawyer right away.Best of luck to them.
I am just glad they are white and not some filthy Mexican or lazy Black.
hate much?
And how many times have you even seen a minority win? And who was not lazy doing the work during slavery. Looks like its laziness is why you even have to worry about blacks to begin with, lol.
If I had won and somone approached me asking for money, I would just tell them, "have your lawyer contact me". I'll just tell him NO and then they would still have to pay their lawyer.