MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. — A spur-of-the-moment decision has made a Norwood woman $4 million richer.
Denise Bazan purchased five Mega Millions tickets from the Murphy USA in Mountain Grove, when she originally planned to buy tickets for a new game called Cash4Life. She said she just happened to look up while at the cash register and change her mind on which tickets to get.
Although Bazan won the major cash prize on April 16, she didn’t realize the news until days later when her friend called her up.
“My friend said, 'Well, I know you bought a Mega Millions ticket. Was it you?'” Bazan shared. “I said, 'What are you talking about?' and she said, ‘Someone in Mountain Grove won $4 million!'”
Using the MO Lottery app on her phone to check her tickets, she told her friend, “No, I won $4,000. Wait a minute … that's a lot of zeros.”
That’s when she realized how big her jackpot really was.
According to the Missouri Lottery’s press release, the retired Air Force officer plans to use some of her winnings to invest and donate to charity.
Bazan’s winning ticket matched all five white-ball numbers drawn, which were 17, 27, 28, 50 and 55. The Mega Ball number was 25, and the Megaplier number was 4.
This win is the 21st time a Missouri Mega Millions ticket has won the million-dollar “Match Five” base prize. Since she added the Megaplier feature on her ticket, which multiplies non-jackpot prizes, Bazan quadrupled her “Match Five” prize and won $4 million.
