WASHINGTON — Elden Market & Deli sold a $3 million Mega Millions ticket, but what Glinda Salgado, whose family owns the Herndon, Va. store, didn’t know was that she bought the winning ticket.
Salgado’s ticket matched the first five numbers in the March 14 Mega Millions drawing, but because she spent an extra dollar for the Megaplier, the prize tripled.
“I didn’t think it was me, so I didn’t check my ticket,” she said in a Virginia Lottery news release.
Salgado of Chantilly matched the winning numbers of 7-20-40-54-69, but didn’t match the Mega Ball number of 12.
The odds of matching the first five numbers are 1 in 18,492,204, according to the Virginia Lottery.
Virginia Lottery Executive Director Paula Otto presented Salgado with the $3 million prize Monday. The store gets a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Salgado selected four of the numbers on her ticket. The computer randomly selected the other two.
If she had matched all of the numbers, she would have won the jackpot estimated at $353 million.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on WTOP Facebook page.