Illinois Store Sells Life-Changing $3M Lottery Ticket

Someone in Central Illinois could be waking up a millionaire.

Lottery officials announced Wednesday that a $3M winning Mega Millions ticket was sold in Springfield.  The lucky ticket was purchased at Qik-N-EZ.  The ticket matched all five white ball numbers drawn on Tuesday night: 12, 39, 43, 49, 55.  While it missed the Mega Ball number, 23, the ticket included a 3X multiplier.  That means the original $1M prize didn't stay at $1M for long.  Instead, it was tripled to a whopping $3M.

Illinois Store Sells Life-Changing $3M Lottery Ticket

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The convenience store will receive a $30,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

“This store has proudly served the community for more than 26 years and has celebrated many winning lottery moments along the way,” said Damon Cranford, CEO of Chronister Oil Company, in a news release. “While this isn’t the largest prize we’ve ever sold, it’s certainly among the biggest.” [WCIA]

They added that sharing in the excitement of a major win is always special and expressed hope that the lucky ticket belongs to someone local.  For now, the big question still remains: Who's holding the ticket?

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Lottery officials encourage players who purchased tickets in the Springfield area to double-check their numbers.  A simple slip of paper could be worth $3M, and potentially change someone's life overnight.

If you bought a Mega Millions ticket in Central Illinois this week, it might be time to dig through your stack of lotto tickets and see if you have the winning ticket.  $3 million is on the line, just sayin'!