The Shadow
RICHMOND — Dallas Eccles was having some trouble with his internet connection on New Year’s Day.
When the Clemmons, N.C., man finally got back online a few days later, he decided to check the winning numbers in Virginia’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle.
“I may as well check. I know I’m not a winner,” he thought.
But when he found the numbers of the three $1 million winning tickets, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I looked and I looked again,” he said. “I checked 10 times. My wife said, ‘You look like a zombie!’ ”
His ticket was a $1 million winner. He bought the ticket at Ridgemart in Ridgeway.
On Wednesday, the couple returned to the store to receive the million-dollar check from the Virginia Lottery. The store received a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Eccles, who is a factory worker, said he has no immediate plans for his winnings.
The other two top-prize winners were bought in Norfolk and Petersburg. Six tickets won $25,000 each. Those tickets were bought in Spotsylvania, Marion, Nor-folk, Ashburn, Midlothian and Staunton. An additional 300 tickets each won $500.
Operating entirely on revenue from the sale of Lottery products, the Virginia Lottery generated more than $538.6 million for Virginia’s public schools in fiscal year 2014.
For more info, visit the Virginia Lottery website, like the lottery on Facebook, follow it on Twitter and check the lottery out on YouTube. Please play responsibly.
