Vermont Powerball jackpot winner still hasn’t come forward

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A week after winning the $336M Powerball Jackpot in Middlebury, the lucky winner has yet to step forward.

“Either they’re being thoughtful or they’re looking for it,” speculated Jack Kane of Burlington.

For the first time ever, the winning ticket for the Powerball was sold in the Green Mountain State at the Middlebury Short Stop convenience store, but the winner is still nowhere to be seen.

People we spoke to say they can understand why the winner has not come forward. “It’s nice to know that somebody in Vermont could actually win. And not coming forward -- I get it, because everybody in the world is gonna be their best friend, relatives coming out of the closet, charities will be hitting them up,” said Dave Dec of Burlington.

“Anyone who’s read about lottery winners knows that those people end up with serious problems, lots of people try to hang on like they’re movie stars and get money from them. And many of them get into problems, drug-wise, because of all that money I guess. So, hopefully they’re taking their time and planning on who they’re gonna tell, how they’re gonna tell them, what they’re going to do with the money before all that must overwhelm them,” Kane said.

Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery Deputy Commissioner Andrew Collier says the winner has a year to claim the prize but there are some steps they have to take. “Normally, they’d contact the lottery. We have staff that our finance team and security team will work with them to verify the winning ticket and go through the different procedures that we have internally to get their winning and verify that they’re current with what they need to be current with state policies,” Collier said. He says he also doesn’t know why the winner hasn’t stepped forward but believes they might just be taking their time. “I would assume that due to the holiday weekend, that there’s a slight delay there. Plus, I would hope that whoever won it is consulting with attorneys and financial planners and I’m guessing that’s what some of the delay is.”

Collier says the lucky winner can choose between payments over a 29-year period or a lump sum of roughly $208 million before taxes. He also says that the prize is great for the entire state “This is awesome, It’s great for Vermont communities ‚it’s great for Vermont lottery players, and it’s really exciting because it’s played so widely across the U.S. It’s great to have a winner here in our little small state,” he said.

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Powerball ticket worth $366M sold in Vermont

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