Cape couple claims prize in scratch-off, but big winner still a mystery

A Cape Girardeau couple won $50,000 in a Missouri Lottery scratch-off game last week but the area is still waiting to discover the identity of a big lotto prize winner who bought a ticket in Jackson.

Eddie Claar, a mechanic with Elrink Transportation, bought the winning "Crossword" ticket at U Kwick Stop, 1700 Broadway, on Dec. 26. Claar told lottery officials he had stopped to purchase cigarettes when he decided to also buy a single scratch-off ticket.

At first Claar and his wife, Sharon Claar, thought they had won $5,000, the second highest prize in the game. Almost as big a surprise as finding out they won $50,000 was when a reporter called for an interview. Sharon Claar said she thought they had asked lottery officials to keep their winnings private.

"People are going to drive us crazy," she said.

The Claars told lottery officials that they plan to pay their home mortgage and other bills with the prize, which came to $35,500 after tax withholdings.

Susan Goedde, the lottery's spokeswoman, said she wasn't asked to keep the Claars' name out of the news when she interviewed Eddie Claar when he and his wife claimed the prize last Thursday. "It is public information, but we try to honor people who don't want publicity," Goedde said. "They didn't indicate that at all."

There haven't been any inquiries from anyone seeking to verify a ticket sold at Jackson BP, 1831 E. Jackson Blvd., for the Dec. 23 Missouri Lotto drawing, Goedde said. The ticket, worth $3.7 million to the winner, was the only winning ticket sold for the drawing that night.

The winning numbers on the ticket are 7, 12, 13, 25, 34 and 37. The winner has until June 21 to claim the prize, Goedde said.

"I haven't heard anything," Goedde said. "Hopefully we will hear something soon."

When the winner comes forward, they will have a choice of accepting a cash payout of $2.3 million minus the tax withholding or taking 25 annual payments that will total $3.7 million

If the winner does not come forward, the money set aside for the winner would be turned over to the state treasury, Goedde said. Lottery profits turned over to the state support education programs and in 2006 represented about 3.9 percent of all state spending on education.

Owners of the Jackson BP will receive the retailer's bonus for selling the winning ticket regardless of whether the lottery prize is claimed, Goedde said. The retailer's bonus for winning tickets is 1 percent of the prize, or $37,000 in the case of the lotto ticket sold in Jackson.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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