‘Come up here right now’: Minnesota couple wins $110M lottery jackpot prize

The Minnesota Lottery says the winners of the state’s first Mega Millions jackpot have come forward and claimed the prize.

The winning numbers for the $110 million jackpot were drawn on April 12, and the winning ticket was sold at the Holiday Stationstore at 14350 Xkimo Street in Ramsey, netting the store $50,000 for selling the ticket.

RELATED: Winning Mega Millions ticket worth $110M sold in Minnesota

According to the Minnesota Lottery, the winners of the jackpot have opted to remain anonymous — the first time lottery winners have been able to stay anonymous after a new state law went into effect in September. However, the winners have allowed some parts of their story to be shared publicly.

According to the Minnesota Lottery, the newest millionaires are a husband and wife who’ve opted for the cash payout option, worth around $66.9 million.

The couple played Minnesota Lottery scratch tickets and shared a pizza on their first date, which was the day the state’s first scratch tickets were sold, April 17, 1990. Thirty-two years later, they’re big winners.

The woman said she’s played the same numbers, although she occasionally changes a number or two, for several years and has faithfully played since the end of last year.

“Thank goodness! If I had seen those numbers and I didn’t have a ticket …,” she said.

The woman told lottery officials that she fell asleep the night of the Mega Millions drawing. When she woke up, she checked the numbers, recognized them instantly and kept rechecking them just to be certain she was actually seeing her numbers.

Her husband was in the basement, watching a sporting event, at the time. After rechecking her numbers several times, she texted him, “Come up here right now, I’m not even kidding,” she said. When her husband saw the numbers, he quickly asked, “Are those your numbers?” and “Do you have a ticket?”

The couple says they got just a couple hours of sleep that night and went to work as usual the following morning, although the woman said she wasn’t very productive. “I got about five minutes of work done,” she said.

Since then, they’ve told some relatives and coworkers and are now making plans for their future. As for their immediate plans, they’re “typical,” the couple said: buy a house and car, and travel. Lottery officials said the couple plans to retire this summer.