$754.6 million Powerball winner identified as Washington woman. ‘Broke down and cried’
Becky Bell was shopping with her daughter at a Fred Meyer grocery store in Auburn, Washington, when she bought the winning $754.6 million Powerball ticket — the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
Bell had already bought one Powerball ticket but decided to get another one on Feb. 5 when she saw the estimated jackpot was $747 million, Washington’s Lottery said in a March 3 news release.
She took it as a sign because she has worked as a supply chain analyst for The Boeing Company for 36 years.
The company had delivered its last 747 jumbo jet days earlier, she said, according to the release.
“That’s when it hit me … I had to buy one more ticket,” Bell told lottery officials.
The next day, she was working at 6:20 a.m. when she decided to check her tickets. She didn’t win anything when she scanned her first ticket.
But, when scanned, her second ticket said “Winning ticket. Claim at Lottery Office,” she told lottery officials.
Bell checked her numbers and they matched the winning numbers for the jackpot: white balls 5, 11, 22, 23, 69 and the red Powerball 7.
“I’ve never won more than $20 in my life, so you can imagine my shock when I realized what had just happened,” she told the agency. “I just broke down and cried.”
Woman wins another $8 from winning ticket
Bell woke up her son and daughter with the news, called her other daughter and texted her mother and sisters to ask them all to double-check her numbers.
Initially, Bell said her mother thought she won $7 million.
“‘No, mom, $700 million,’” Bell said she told her mom. “Pretty soon, everyone was crying.”
When she took her winning ticket to the lottery office in Olympia, she learned she won another $8 from her winning ticket.
“I told you it was a sign,” Bell told the lottery office while laughing.
The jackpot win will allow Bell to retire a few months early from Boeing, which she had already been in the process of doing, she said.
Jackpot winner chooses cash payment
Bell chose the lump sum payment of $407.2 million over being paid $754.6 million over the course of 30 years.
Her identity has been unknown for weeks.
Winners in Washington have 180 days from the drawing date to claim their prize. This isn’t the same for winners in other states like California who have a year to come forward.
Once a Powerball jackpot prize has been claimed, the winner’s identity is public in Washington because of public record laws.
Edwin Castro won the Powerball’s largest jackpot in history at $2.04 billion during the delayed Nov. 8 drawing. He bought the ticket in Altadena, California, and was the sole winner.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales cutoff times vary from state to state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. and can be streamed online.
Auburn is about 30 miles south of Seattle.
Top 10 Powerball jackpot records
1. $2.04 billion: Nov. 7, 2022 — California
2. $1.586 billion: Jan. 13, 2016 — California, Florida, Tennessee
3. $768.4 million: March 27, 2019 — Wisconsin
4. $758.7 million: Aug. 23, 2017 — Massachusetts
5. $754.6 million: Feb. 6, 2023 — Washington
6. $731.1 million: Jan. 20, 2021 — Maryland
7. $699.8 million: Oct. 4, 2021 — California
8. $687.8 million: Oct. 27, 2018 — Iowa, New York
9. $632.6 million: Jan. 5, 2022 — California, Wisconsin
10. $590.5 million: May 18, 2013 — Florida
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
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