A northeast Iowa man was so flustered when he realized he’d won a $1 million Mega Millions® prize that he left his winning ticket behind at the store.
But the story turned out well: The small-town grapevine reconnected him with the ticket within about 30 minutes.
Tad Alber, 57, of West Union claimed his $1 million prize today at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. He said he was working Saturday at the West Union Event Center, which is owned by his family, and hadn’t heard that a ticket in the nearby community of Ossian won a $1 million prize in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing.
As the afternoon went on, Tad said he got hungry and decided to go to a local store for some chicken. While he was there, he asked the clerks to check his Mega Millions tickets.
Tad said that when the clerk told him he’d won $1 million, he was so shaky and excited, he almost forgot to pay for his food and ended up leaving the winning ticket behind.
Tad said that when he got back to the event center, he was telling some of his relatives about his big win when one of them got a call from the manager at the store. The manager said that Tad had left his winning ticket there and he needed to go get it right away. Tad jokes that he may have used up all his family’s luck that day!
Tad bought his $1 million-winning ticket at Casey’s, 200 W. Main St. in Ossian. His ticket came within one number of having at least a share of Friday’s $99 million jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Mega Ball. It was the only $1 million-winning ticket nationwide in Friday’s drawing.
Friday’s winning numbers were: 12-18-24-46-65 and Mega Ball 3. The Megaplier® number was 4. Casey’s will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket at one of its stores.
Tad’s ticket is the fourth in Iowa to win a prize of at least $1 million in 2022.
He said that he plans to use a portion of his winnings to buy a restaurant in nearby Clermont owned by his brother, Jeff, but which has been closed since the COVID-19 emergency. Tad said he thinks it’s time for the business to re-open and now he can make that happen.
Comments