Winning $254 million Powerball ticket sold at grocery store in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- The winner of the largest lottery jackpot ever sold in Missouri -- worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars -- bought the ticket at a suburban St. Louis grocery store, state lottery officials said Thursday.

One person matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday -- 9, 19, 29, 42, 53 and the Powerball number 17. The winner of the $254 million prize had not yet come forward. The ticket was sold at the Dierbergs grocery store on Tesson Ferry Road in south St. Louis County.

"We're very excited," assistant store director Patricia Cook said. "Our associates are hoping it's one of our regulars. We have some people who come in every day."

The jackpot is the largest in the 21-year history of the Missouri Lottery and the seventh-largest Powerball jackpot ever, said Susan Goedde, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Lottery. She said the prize was the 14th largest ever sold in the world.

Lottery officials urged anyone who purchased tickets at the store to check the numbers closely. The person holding the winning ticket should sign the back and keep it in a safe place until it can be taken to a Missouri Lottery office, spokesman Gary Gonder said.

The winner has the option of receiving the $254 million in 30 payments over 29 years, or accepting a lump-sum payment worth $120 million before taxes.

Powerball winners in Missouri have 180 days from the drawing to claim their prize. The winner of Wednesday's drawing has until July 23.

Dierbergs will get $50,000 for selling the jackpot prize.

Since the Powerball game began in 1992, $1.2 billion has been awarded in Missouri, Gonder said.