BOISE, Idaho —
Casey Winter, a local Idaho Firefighter, and his girlfriend, Josie Nelson, were driving to a family celebration Thursday night when they decided to scan their Powerball tickets from Monday night’s drawing.
"I scanned it with my Idaho Lottery app on my phone," Nelson said. "It said the prize amount was too much to show me and that I needed to call the Lottery office. I started checking the website to check the numbers, to make sure I had the right date, but I didn't believe it."
Nelson showed Winter the ticket, just to confirm what she was seeing, and the couple decided to take the ticket to a local store to scan it there.
"The machine made the big winner sound and the clerk told us we needed to take it to the Lottery," Winter said. "So, we pushed back our dinner reservations and hurried down to the Lottery Offices before they closed."
Winter's Powerball ticket matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball from Monday night's draw. Since August, all Powerball tickets in Idaho include PowerPlay, which multiplies non-jackpot winnings by the number selected for the draw. That number on Monday night was 2, making the couple's winner worth $100,000. They claimed their prize late on Thursday evening just before Lottery offices closed.
"I know I missed the jackpot by one number, but I'm not complaining," Winter said.
The couple said they planned to use their winnings as a down payment for a permanent house in the area.
"We were both born and raised here. With the housing market being what it is, winning Powerball is going to help two native Idahoans afford to stay in Idaho!" Nelson said.
Winter's winning ticket was sold at Jacksons on Franklin and Linder in Meridian. Jacksons received a bonus from the Idaho Lottery for $10,000.
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