$3 MILLION WINNERS: Timothy Burdess and Christina Vandiver

A Megamillions lottery ticket sold at the Corner Store in Sheridan is worth $3 million in the national drawing, the Arkansas Lottery said.

The ticket matched the five numbers drawn Friday night in the lottery, but not the sixth “Megaball” number. It was the only ticket sold nationally with five of six numbers.

Advertisement

The store will get a 1 percent commission of $30,000 on the sale. The winner will pay about a third of the proceeds in taxes.

The Megamillions next drawing has a possible prize of $654 million.

UPDATE: A couple stepped forward to claim the prize Monday afternoon,

Advertisement

A lottery spokesman identified the winners as  Timothy Burdess and his girlfriend Christina Vandiver of Sheridan. More from the lottery:

They didn’t realize until about 7 p.m. Sunday night that they had the winning ticket. …

“I was broke – going through my change looking for enough quarters to buy some snuff at the Valero station,” Burdess said. “While I was there, I scanned my ticket and discovered it was a big winner.”

Burdess was sick last Friday so he asked Vandiver to buy him a Powerball® ticket on her way home from work. When she got to the store, she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to purchase Powerball® or Mega Millions® so she bought one for each game. Her confusion paid off.

A native of Iowa, Burdess moved to Sheridan when he was in the fourth grade. He graduated from Sheridan High School in 1990. After a tour with the Marine Corps, he moved back to his hometown two years ago.

Burdess and Vandiver each has a 12-year-old autistic son. They met each other when the boys were in the same class. The couple plans to use the money for trust funds for the boys and to buy a house.

Be a part of something bigger

As a reader of the Arkansas Times, you know we’re dedicated to bringing you tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. For 50 years, we've been fighting the good fight in Little Rock and beyond – with your support, we can do even more. By becoming a subscriber or donating as little as $1 to our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage and continue to bring important stories to light. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. Join us in the fight for truth.

Previous article AETN to add high school sports Next article Arkansas cities below average in LGBTQ equality index