Lottery still waiting to hear from Bend’s big jackpot winner

More than a week after someone struck it rich in Bend, the Oregon Lottery has yet to hear from the winner of a $6.4 million Oregon Lottery Megabucks jackpot.

The winning numbers drawn Monday, Aug. 24 were 15-27-32-39-44-45.

“The ticket was sold in Bend, but that does not necessarily mean it was a Bend resident,” spokesman Chuck Baumann told NewsChannel 21 last week.

Late Tuesday, he said things were still “all quiet!” on the millionaire front.

It’s not unusual for lottery officials to not hear from the new multi-millionaires right away, he noted.

“A $6.4 million jackpot is an amount that we would hope whoever does have the ticket is talking with a financial planner or accountant or lawyer — or all three for that matter!” Buamann said in an e-mail last week. “The longer it takes for the winner to come in, historically indicates the winner is doing some wise planning on their end.”

The lottery doesn’t release the name of the retail location that sold the winning ticket until its been validated at lottery headquarters in Salem, he said, as a security check. So we still don’t know where it was sold, either.

Since there’s just one ticket, the winner will have the option of taking a lump-sum cash payment of $2.14 million, after taxes, or a 25-year annuity of $171,520 a year, again after taxes, Baumann said.

Buamann reminded the big winner to sign the back of the ticket and call the lottery office at 503-540-1000.

“There will be paperwork,” he said, “and the more information we have, the easier the process for all parties.”