Winner of Powerball jackpot yet to come forward to claim prize

TRENTON, New Jersey (WABC) -- The sole winner of the $429.6 million Powerball jackpot has yet to come forward to claim the prize, as the New Jersey store that sold the winning ticket celebrates.

The owners of the 7-Eleven on the 700 block of Chambers Street in Trenton told ABC News that the winning ticket was purchased there, and that they received a call and a visit from lottery officials on Sunday morning.

The owners believe the winner picked her own numbers, not Quick Pick, and they believe she is a regular customer and Powerball player.

The person who won bought a ticket for Wednesday's draw and one for Saturday's draw -- spending a total of $6, lottery officials said Monday.

New Jersey Lottery executive director Carole Hedinger said the winner picked his or her own numbers.

The ticket was purchased as a cash ticket and is valued at $284 million, state lottery officials said.

The jackpot is the sixth-largest in Powerball jackpot history, and the largest single jackpot winning ticket sold in New Jersey.

Luis Sandoval said he didn't believe it when his co-workers told him that he had sold the winning ticket.

"When they texted me, I thought they were messing with me," Sandoval told NJ.com. "But then my second co-worker told me the same thing, I was blown away." Sandoval, who has worked at the 7-Eleven for two years, said he has no idea who the winner might be.

The owners of the store will receive $30,000 as a prize for selling the winning ticket, and plan to use the money to go on a trip to Alaska.

Saturday's winning numbers were:

25-66-44-5-26 Powerball: 9

Saturday's prize is the largest since a record $1.6 billion payout in January.

That's a cool $269 million as a pre-tax cash option.

Interest and sales typically spike when the lack of a winner causes prizes to spiral upward, despite the seemingly astronomical odds of one in 292.2 million.

And even with such bad odds, a winning ticket or tickets will eventually be sold. That's because about 323 million people live in the United States, and when the jackpot balloons, a lot of them buy a lot of tickets. In January, more than 75 percent of the possible 292.2 million combinations were sold for the big prize.

Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The jackpot Saturday had climbed to nearly $430 million, making the prize the largest since a record $1.6 billion payout in January that prompted some to wait in hours-long lines outside lottery retailers. But unlike Saturday night's drawing, that jackpot was shared by three winning tickets.

This isn't the first time Powerball luck has struck in New Jersey. In 2013, a sole ticket claimed a $383 million Powerball jackpot.

Seven tickets from Saturday night's drawing matched five numbers and claimed $1 million, including three in New York, two in Illinois and one apiece in California and Virginia.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)