Missouri clerk sells herself winning Powerball ticket

DONIPHAN, Mo., May 22 (UPI) -- A Missouri woman who started her new job as a store clerk last week sold herself a pair of lottery tickets, winning $500 and $1 million.

Mary Jane Hart of Doniphan, Mo., who recently started working at the Hartland Pit Stop convenience store, said she bought a lottery ticket winning $500 last week and sold herself a Powerball ticket Saturday and won $1 million of the record $590 million jackpot, KAIT-TV, Jonesboro, Ark., reported Wednesday.

Hart said she picked her winning Powerball numbers -- 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52 -- by listing some of her favorite NASCAR drivers.

"Someone had called me and told me that there was a winning ticket at the [Hartland Pit Stop]," she said, "so I went to the convenience store at Poplar Bluff and it said I was a winner."

Coworkers said they were happy for Hart.

"It couldn't happen to a better person," cashier Sara Barfield said. "[Hart] is a wonderful lady and a hard worker, so I'm glad to see it went to somebody deserving."

The overall Powerball jackpot winner is yet to come forward. A single ticket sold in Florida had the five winning numbers and the Powerball for a prize of $590.5 million.