Lottery winner: Sikeston mom picks up salt ... and a little extra change

~ Malissa Carr matched six numbers in Powerball and will take home about $600,000 after taxes.

SIKESTON -- Malissa Carr was quite content when she thought her Powerball winnings were enough to purchase a container of salt to finish cooking supper last Thursday.

Little did the Sikeston resident know instead of matching three numbers worth $7, her ticket matched five -- worth $853,492.

"I ran to Quick Chek (in Sikeston) to cash my ticket, and they told me I'd won a little more than that," said Carr, 35.

Although it wasn't the $340 million Powerball jackpot, Carr's winnings were enough to cause lots of excitement.

"I was in disbelief at first," Carr said. "I screamed. There were people in there who were happy for me and saying, 'Right on.'"

Carr, who doesn't play the lottery often, said she spent $10 on tickets Oct. 19 at Jaspers convenience store in Sikeston. She was filling her car up with gas and decided to try her luck at the Powerball jackpot.

"There was something that morning -- I had a feeling I had never had before," Carr said about purchasing the tickets.

But later that evening, when the winning numbers were announced, Carr admitted she was so preoccupied with her daughter, she didn't notice she'd matched five of the six numbers -- until the next day at Quick Chek.

"I did watch the news and saw three numbers matched, but I thought, 'God must not have meant for me to win,'" Carr recalled.

Carr said with the winnings, she and her husband, Dale, plan to buy a home for their family.

"We just moved to a rental house so we're going to buy a home with the money," Carr said. "We're looking at one with an underground pool, four bedrooms and a basement."

A new car and truck are also on the list of purchases as well as a trip to Six Flags in St. Louis, Carr said. Money will also be put in savings for her children to attend college, she said.

"I would love to get into photography some day, too," said Carr, who is disabled.

The Carrs plan to buy new furniture for the home and will give their current furniture to family and friends, Carr said.

"They've helped us through a lot this year," Carr said about her family and friends.

In addition to Carr's ticket, two other Missouri tickets matched all five white-ball numbers in the record drawing. One ticket was claimed by a Blytheville, Ark., woman and the other prize has not yet been claimed. It was sold at a 7-Eleven in Hazelwood.

After taxes, Carr's winnings will amount to about $600,000, lottery officials said.

"It's a dream come true," Carr said. "I just feel grateful, and it's truly a blessing."

Carr's three daughters -- Amber, 16; Casey 14; and Dakota, 9 -- are also excited about their mother's good fortune.

"At first I didn't want to tell anybody," Casey said. "And then I told my two best friends and cousins. Then everyone in school found out."

Living in a new house is what Casey thinks she will enjoy most about her mother's winnings.

"Being the middle child, I've always had to share a room. Now we all get our own room," Casey smiled, adding they even get to pick out their own bedroom suites.

Since her windfall, Carr admitted her family's life has been turned upside down.

"Everyone's excited for us," Carr said. "I've been giving away $100 bills to family and friends."

And Casey insisted her mother winning the lottery isn't going to change the family.

Casey said: "It's like my mom keeps saying, 'Our material things might change, but we aren't going to change.'"