$1 million Powerball winner comes forward with sign: ‘I love VA’

RICHMOND, Va. – The $1 million Powerball winner came forward to claim the ticket that was won at 3 Chopt Market on May 2.

Monica Powers said she had a strange feeling before the Powerball drawing and decided to use the $16 she recently won in another drawing to play Powerball.

“I just thought, ‘Roll the dice,’” the Richmond woman said.

So, she bought a ticket at 3 Chopt Market, in the 7000 Three Chopt Road and used easy pick, allowing the computer to randomly select the numbers on her ticket.

Monica Powers had a strange feeling before the May 2 Powerball drawing.

The next morning, she checked the winning numbers and couldn’t believe what she saw.

“I looked at the winning numbers again and thought, ‘Wait a minute! I think I have these numbers!’” she said.

She matched the first five numbers, missing only the Powerball number, to win $1 million. The winning numbers in that drawing were 5-14-31-40-50, and the Powerball number was 6.

When she showed up at the Virginia Lottery’s Richmond headquarters to claim her prize, she brought a home-made sign reading,

“I love VA. Thank you for a million reasons to love it even more!!!!”

The store receives a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.