Slad will net $50 million after federal taxes are taken out RELATED VIDEO CNN's Jeff Flock has the story of the big winner Windows Media 28K 80K

July 1, 1999
Web posted at: 3:59 p.m. EDT (1959 GMT)

In this story: 'Might as well try' Forty nine $100,000 tickets Long lines, big dreams RELATED STORIES, SITES

ROSEVILLE, Minnesota (CNN) -- A beaming 21-year-old Minnesota woman was presented with a check for more than $78 million after she came forward with the winning Powerball lottery ticket on Thursday.

Farrah Slad, from Brainerd in central Minnesota, came to lottery headquarters in this St. Paul suburb where officials confirmed she had the only winning ticket from Wednesday night's drawing.

"We looked at it over a hundred times and it just didn't seem real," Slad said as her parents looked on. "I couldn't sleep last night," the new multimillionaire added.

Slad opted to take the winnings in one lump sum instead of take the full $150 million jackpot, which would have been paid out over 25 years.

The exact amount Slad's check: $78,882,065.40 cents. After federal taxes are taken out, she will net more than $50 million.

'Might as well try'

Slad, who makes $9 an hour at a mortgage company, said she was low on gas when she stopped at a gas station and bought the ticket.

"I just figured, hey, it's a big jackpot, might as well try," Slad said of the purchase.

Slad, who is single, envisions her life changing "drastically," but says she will stay at work until her employer finds a replacement for her.

Her first purchase with her lottery money will be a car. "I don't know what it is yet, but I'm going to find my dream car," Slad said.

She's got vacation plans, too: "I've always wanted to go to Mexico, so I guess I'll go to a travel agent and see what they have to offer," Slad said.

Forty nine $100,000 tickets

In addition to the jackpot -- the third highest in Powerball history -- there were 49 tickets sold that matched the five regular numbers but missed the Powerball. Those tickets are worth $100,000 each.

Powerball players select five numbers from a field of one to 49 and a single Powerball from among the numbers one to 42. The game is played in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

The winning numbers drawn Wednesday night were 5, 10, 12, 20, 40 and the Powerball was 3.

Long lines, big dreams

People standing in long lines around the country on Wednesday helped push the Powerball jackpot to $150 million.

"The sales are extremely out of control. It's just packed," Deana Warner, a store manager in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, said before Wednesday night's drawing. "The ticket sales are astronomical."

At the Speedway gas station in Richmond, Indiana, where last year's winning $296 million ticket was purchased, would-be multimillionaires may have been hoping lightning would strike twice.

"We've been busy on lottery," a Speedway clerk said. "It's probably because of last year's winner."

In July 1998, 13 Ohio factory workers who called themselves the "Lucky 13" won the record jackpot. They opted to take the smaller lump-sum jackpot, which totaled $161.5 million.

A Chilean-born baby sitter won the second-largest lottery prize of $197 million in April with a ticket purchased in a Boston supermarket.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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