“I drive by the lottery office daily on my way to work and would say, ‘One day … one day,’ ” The Elk River man said. He drives by this particular building nearly every day and thought of going inside one day to claim his riches. The fortune-bringing ticket was bought in Ramsey, at the Holiday convenience store on Ramsey Boulevard just off Hwy. 10. The jackpot was won with the number matching all five numbers drawn plus the Star Ball — 16, 22, 32, 36, 42, Star Ball of 8.

The holder of the Lotto America ticket, Jeffery Love hit the jackpot on 12th July, Friday, for $21.6 million before taxes. Although he had one year to claim his riches, Jeffery came to the Roseville office of the Minnesota Lottery just about as quickly as he could, two days after the winning numbers were drawn.

Love said “I stopped at a lottery retailer Friday morning and scanned my ticket.” The scanner message instructed him to contact the Minnesota Lottery so as to claim the prize. The golden prize winner also added “I was on my way back to work on Friday when I learned of my good fortune. First, I called into work and told them I would “be a little late”, but it wasn’t long before I called back and let them know that I wouldn’t be in at all Friday.”

Pending the situation, he thought to himself “OK, this is big.” He then checked the numbers on his phone. He added “When I checked the winning numbers to my ticket, they matched perfectly.” He called [wife] Vickie and told her that there is a situation.

According to Satta King, along with Minnesota, Lotto America is enjoyed in 12 other states. It replaced Hot Lotto in the fall of 2017, and like its forerunner, has a jackpot that grows as each drawing fails to bring a winner. Currently, the jackpot resets to $2 million.