(Photos: Stephen Lance Dennee)
RED BUD, Ill. —Three lucky winners will split Friday’s $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, which shattered lottery records and fueled fleeting dreams of mansions, fast cars and the good life for countless players across the nation.
The winning tickets, sold in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland, are worth $213 million each — or $141 million to $149 million after taxes.
Residents in the depressed, hardscrabble town of Red Bud, Ill., were particularly thrilled — especially at the local Motomart where it was sold.
“This is a huge deal for Red Bud,” Motomart manager Denise Metzger said.
“Not one person in this town couldn’t use that money. I bought one ticket myself Tuesday.”
The dusty Midwest burg has long suffered from the travails that affect many farming communities.
Named in 1866 after the redbud trees that abound in the area, the town was first settled in 1820 by European Preston Brickley, who built a log cabin and began farming corn.
About 180 years later, Red Bud is now an island in a sea of corn. Until yesterday, the biggest news had been about the appointment of the local high-school principal.
By last night, Rose Bud was buzzing about its newest — and possibly only millionaire.
Sources fingered the likely winner as a man named Gary Liefer.
The only problem: There are at least two guys by that name in Red Bud and no one was sure yesterday which one had won the big prize.
One of the town’s Gary Liefers went online to make sure everyone knew that he wasn’t the winner. “It was NOT me I didn’t win!!!” he wrote on his Facebook page.
The other two Mega Millions winners’ names were not known yesterday.
Officials said the Kansas ticket was bought somewhere in the northeast part of the state, with no further details. The other ticket was bought at a 7-Eleven in Milford Mill, Md.
“I’m happy for the person who won,” said Marylander Christopher Wilkins, “but I’m kicking myself for not buying my tickets here [at the 7-Eleven] — I go up the block because they always have good numbers.”