Mega Millions ticket worth $2.1 million sold at Cathedral City supermarket

A ticket with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, in Tuesday night's drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery, was sold at a Stater Bros. supermarket in Cathedral City and is worth $2,151,945, the California Lottery announced. The Stater Bros. that sold the winning ticket is located on the corner of Ramon Road and Date Palm Drive. The winner has not yet come forward.

Local shoppers were buzzing about the news, excited something to have such a big winner so close to home.

“I think it's a hoot. I'm really happy for them! Somebody's got some good money," said Rick Lang.

His wife, Lori says they found out about the winning ticket from a cashier.

“We were just getting groceries, and he just told us and I'm like, 'Oh, wow, that's awesome', I couldn't be happier it happened," said Lori.

Other shoppers agreed.

"Oh, I think it's wonderful. Yeah, I think it's wonderful,” said Stacy Brooks.

Officials with the California Lottery sent News Channel Three a statement regarding the winning ticket:

“The California Lottery makes more than a hundred millionaires each year, and it’s always exciting when there’s a big winning ticket sold right here in the golden state. We will watch and wait like everyone else to see who comes forward… THANK YOU to all of our players who support our mission to raise additional funding for California’s public schools.”

Carolyn Becker, CA Lottery Spokesperson

While tickets with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in other states are worth $1 million or a multiple of $1 million, California law requires major payoffs of lottery games to be paid on a pair mutuel basis, meaning they are determined by sales and the number of winners.

The ticket with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in Michigan is worth $1 million.

There were no tickets sold with all six numbers, pushing the estimated jackpot for Friday's drawing to $687 million.   

News Channel Three's Tori King asked shoppers what they would do if they happened to win the lottery.

“Well, probably the first thing I would do is throw my phone away, so nobody could call me," said Brooks. "The second thing is I'd probably look for a new home. See how that worked out for me. Definitely a home here in the Valley."

Lori and her husband Rick Lang both said they would donate the money.

“Oh, boy, that's a tough one. Probably, just give a lot of it away. A lot of people need help and we could make a lot of people happy," said the Langs.

“I think I would put some of it in bank, save it case I needed it for something important," said Liz, another local shopper. "Otherwise, I'd probably travel. I have good friend who just went to Antarctica. So I'd like to go there.”

The winning ticket holder won't be the only one cashing in. According to the CA Lottery, the retailer that sold the ticket will receive a one-half percent of the prize as a commission. Meaning, the Stater Bros. supermarket will receive a prize of $10,759.

The numbers drawn on Tuesday were 2, 49, 50, 61, 70 and the Mega number was 14. The estimated jackpot was $650 million.  

The drawing was the 25th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the California Lottery. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.

The Mega Millions game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.