$11M ticket claimed; winner unidentified

By Kristi Oloffson\nkoloffso@indiana.edu\nThe secret's out: The largest lottery jackpot ever won in Bloomington has been claimed.\nA representative for the 2006 Stewardship Revocable Trust claimed the winning $11 million Hoosier Lotto ticket Wednesday morning, according to a press release from the Hoosier Lottery.\nA trust fund is generally set up to allow the winner to keep his or her anonymity, said Hoosier Lottery Director of Public Relations Andrew Reed. Hoosier Lottery was unable to release the name of the individual who purchased the winning ticket.\nThe winning party has decided to receive a one-time lump sum totaling $4,653,186 before state and federal taxes, according to the release.\nThe winning ticket was sold at a Village Pantry located at 1307 W. Third St. in Bloomington and will profit the retailer $100,000 for selling the ticket, according to the release. \nVillage Pantry Manager Joe Engebretson said the Hoosier Lottery Commission asked him not to comment on the issue.\nCustomers and employees of the Village Pantry said they had received no information about the announcement by Wednesday afternoon.\n"Luck is luck, and it only happens to certain people," said Eric Detwiler, who was at Village Pantry on Wednesday. "I just don't think it's a good idea to put money into something more than likely you're not gonna win."\nIU alumna Courtney Marvel said she was surprised and excited about the winner.\n"I know a lot of people at work who buy a lottery ticket every day," she said. "I'm sure that would give them motivation."\nThe ticket was previously reported as being sold at a Quizno's/Marathon gas station on College Avenue, where cashier Tom Watters said he sold the ticket to the winner and notified her when she won.\nWatters and another cashier at the Marathon on College Avenue said the winning ticket was purchased at their store but has not yet been claimed.\n"I can say I sold it and scanned it for her and notified her that she did win," Watters said. "We're in limbo right now until this ticket gets claimed, and she gets up to six months to claim it."\nBut Reed insisted the ticket came from the Village Pantry on Third Street.\n"There are certain numbers on our tickets, and we have codes on our tickets," he said. "We know where that ticket came from."\nThe winning numbers -- 28, 32, 41, 42, 46 and 48 -- were released Saturday, Sept. 16, according to the release.\nThis is the third time a jackpot-winning Hoosier Lotto ticket has been sold in Bloomington and the sixth Hoosier Lotto jackpot winner in 2006.