Payday for Petro Express?
June 22, 2009 - 2:40 PM
Kevin Ellis and Calli Turner
The employees were there. The store's region manager was there. The TV news vans were there. The North Carolina Education Lottery Commission was there.
But the winner of $88.1 million in Saturday's Powerball drawing was no where in sight Monday
That could change soon as lottery officials expect the mystery man to come forward Tuesday.
"He's supposed to be at the lottery headquarters at 12:30," said Pam Walker, spokeswoman for the North Carolina lottery.
Walker said lottery officials talked to the man, but declined to offer a clue about his identity. She said he plans to make a statement to the media.
"I can't release (his name) until he's ready for us to release it," Walker said Monday night.
But even without the guest of honor, the party played on Monday at the Kings Mountain store that sold the winning ticket.
Excited employees and rushed production crews crowded the Petro Express on Cleveland Avenue in Kings Mountain Monday afternoon. The Lottery commission arrived just short of 4 p.m. to announce that the store had sold the winning $88.1 million Powerball ticket. But the Kings Mountain residents were left wondering, "Who has the ticket?"
Jennifer Seay, the Petro Express employee who checked the winning ticket Sunday, said she thought the lucky gentleman was from the Kings Mountain area, because he purchased his soft drinks at the convenience store. She said the winner is in his 50s, and wasn't a regular customer at the store. Seay did not know his name and his identity remains a mystery.
Seay said the man with the winning ticket was understandably excited when he realized he had won."He went crazy. He jumped up a couple of times. Yelled and got on the phone with someone," Seay said. "I tried to calm him down before he left. I said, 'Sir, calm down before you leave.'"
That was the last time Seay saw the mystery man.
The North Carolina Education Lottery has additional validation procedures for winners of more than $100,000 and especially for jackpot winners, Walker said. The Powerball winner must go to the Commission's headquarters in Raleigh to claim the ticket. Walker said Monday the man may have been on his way to claim the ticket, while the Commission was making the announcement at the Petro Express.
Jack Swain, the region manager for The Pantry Inc. - the company that owns Petro Express - said the company received a call from the Commission at 10:30 a.m. Monday alerting them to the excitement to ensue. He said the company was glad the money would help the education system and would remain in the community.Between the aisles of snack cakes and rows and candy bars, locals crowded in to get a glimpse at the excitement. Linda Moss had the afternoon off from the convenience store, but stopped by the Petro Express with her granddaughter Chelse Hale to share in the excitement. "We heard somebody had won the lottery, and we came done here to see who had won it," Moss said.
Unfortunately, Moss, her granddaughter and the rest of Kings Mountain will have to wait until that person comes forward. Until then, Kings Mountain residents might want to consider being extra nice to their neighbors.
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I think PE will get a cash payout from the lottery because they sold the winning ticket but I could be mistaken.
