WILMINGTON TEACHER CLAIMS 4/26 $1.45 MILLION LOTTO JACKPOT PRIZE

DOVER, DE -A 54-year-old high school special education teacher for the Brandywine School District, claimed the April 26, 2002 $1.45 million LOTTO jackpot prize this morning at the Delaware Lottery Office in Dover. The winner, a Wilmington resident who wishes to remain anonymous, received $1,058,500 after taxes and shared her winnings with five family members, although it was not divided evenly.

The woman purchased her winning LOTTO ticket at One Stop Shoppe in Chesmar Plaza in Newark. The winning ticket contained all six winning numbers from the drawing. The numbers she played were a combination of randomly selected numbers, which she has been playing regularly.

"I found out that I won when I watched the drawing Friday night and wrote down the numbers," the winner explained. "It was unbelievably exciting! I literally jumped out of my chair and called my sister, who then called the toll-free information line to confirm the winning numbers."

With no real plans for the prize money, the woman told Lottery Officials that she plans to play more golf this summer. In her 33rd year of teaching, she also teaches high school basketball and plans to continue doing so.

The LOTTO jackpot for tonight, Monday, April 29, 2002 is $250,000. Tickets for LOTTO cost $1 and are available at more than 400 Delaware Lottery Retailers.

Since the start of operations in 1975, the Delaware Lottery has contributed more than $1.3 billion to the state's General Fund to help finance needed state services that benefit everyone in Delaware. The Lottery offers a variety of games: POWERBALL®, LOTTO, PLAY 3 and PLAY 4, and assorted Instant Games.