JACKSON MAN PICKS WINNING TICKET IN POWERBALL

JACKSON, Mo. -- Richard Rioux, of Jackson, is a one-in-a-million winner in the Missouri Lottery Powerball.

Make that a 1-in-1,953,393 winner.

Rioux, who recently picked a $100,000 ticket, didn't know it for almost three weeks and couldn't believe how much money he'd been carrying around in his pocket.

Susan Goedde, of the Missouri Lottery, said the winning powerball ticket was purchased at Fruitland D-Mart Citgo on the Fourth of July.

Rioux didn't check the numbers until Monday, almost three weeks later.

This was the first $100,000 winner at D-Mart, which will receive $1,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Rioux, a 46-year-old construction manager, said he usually stops at the station, puts $18 worth of gas in the car and spends the remaining $2 of a $20 bill on Powerball tickets.

He told Missouri Lottery officials that he has a habit of letting tickets accumulate before checking them to see if he had any winning numbers.

Rioux let the computer pick the lucky combinations on his holiday ticket -- this time they were 2, 25, 26, 28, and 30 -- all white tickets. The "Powerball" number that week was 10.

Rioux couldn't be reached for comment, but told lottery officials earlier that the clerks at the store were more excited than he was about the winning ticket.

He told officials that he has not made plans for money yet, but will put most of it in the bank.

Powerball is a multi-state "Numbers Game" run by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) in Des Moines, Iowa. There are currently 21 states, including Missouri, in the Powerball program.

Powerball winners have 60 days after the drawing to claim the money.

There have been 29 $100,000 winners over the past month.

335-6611 extenion 133