The Wait is Over! Family Trio Claims $1,000,000 Mega Millions® Prize from Dec. 23 Drawing
March 16, 2012 -- Time was ticking on the $1,000,000 prize winning ticket sold in Connecticut for the December 23, 2011
Mega Millions drawing. Like all other CT Lottery draw tickets, winners have 180 days from the drawing date to claim their prize. As time wore on, CT Lottery staffers remained hopeful that one day soon, the winning ticket holder would step forward to claim their million-dollar prize. Recently, the Rheaume family—Leo Rheaume of South Windsor, sister, Jeanne Gobeil of Sulphur, LA; and his son, Matthew Rheaume of Fleetwood, PA—arrived at Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill to finally make their claim. “It’s really hard to believe,” said Leo Rheaume of South Windsor.
The family trio, who decided nearly three years ago to play lottery together and equally share any prizes won, successfully matched the first 5 Mega Millions numbers, 3-5-8-18-29 drawn on December 23, 2011, but missed the Mega Ball number of 14. The Megaplier® was 4. “The numbers were selected from family birthdays,” said the elder Rheaume.
Because the Rheaume family had added the Megaplier feature to the purchase of their Mega Millions ticket for an extra $1, their $250,000 prize was automatically multiplied by 4 making for a spectacular $1,000,000 win ($683,000 after taxes).
The Rheaume family’s million-dollar winning ticket was the largest sold in Connecticut for the December 23rd Mega Millions drawing. Additionally, 12,407 winning tickets with prize values from $2 to $10,000 were sold throughout the state for that game.
Country Store, located at 960 Sullivan Avenue in South Windsor, sold Rheaume his winning ticket and will receive a $2,500 bonus from the CT Lottery for doing so.