SACRAMENTO – Sometimes things just slip your mind, especially when you are making big life changes like getting married or moving to a new place. So it’s no wonder why it took the latest MEGA Millions winner nearly three months to claim his prize.
Cordell Benson, a truck driver from Southern California, entrusts his Lottery tickets to his fiancé, Lurline. When they were packing for their recent move in August, she put the tickets in a very safe place. The problem is she didn’t unpack the tickets until this week, after the couple had moved and settled in a new home.
“Lurline found the paper bag she keeps our tickets in and decided we should check them,” explained Benson. “When she told me we had won, I didn’t believe her and went to wait for her in the car.”
But Lurline wasn’t kidding, they had won the $136,710 MEGA Millions prize for matching five out of six numbers on the August 29 draw. Their ticket was purchased at the 7-Eleven at 1001 North Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim. The winning numbers were 21, 25, 26, 50, 51 and the Mega number was 22.
Cordell and Lurline are getting married next week, after meeting in high school some 40 years ago. “I asked her to marry me when I got out of the Navy in 1971 and she said, ‘No,’ but the second time I asked her, she accepted,” said Benson. With their prize, they plan to pay off debt and take an Alaskan cruise for their honeymoon.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed nearly $21 billion to California schools out of total sales of more than $56 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.6 billion in compensation since 1985.