A Franklin County couple found out they’d won a $1.7 million MO Millions jackpot from the Missouri Lottery while on their way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The husband had bought the winning ticket at Wayside, 3302 Highway 100 in Villa Ridge, for the Feb. 11 drawing and decided to check it on their way to dinner.

"I laid my ticket on the counter, and the clerk scans it and goes, 'Oh, you won!'” the husband explained. “I said, ‘Oh really? How much did I win?’ He goes, ‘No, you won the Lottery!’ I said, ‘The whole thing?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, the whole thing!’

“I climbed in the truck and I told my wife, ‘I actually won it!’” he added.

“He had this wild look in his eyes,” his wife chimed in. “I thought he was messing with me. I thought, ‘Yeah, yeah, right. Let’s check those numbers!’”

The winning numbers on Feb. 11 were 1, 9, 13, 14, 23 and 34. The ticket was the only one to match all six numbers drawn that night, resulting in a $1.7 million jackpot win.

“You actually did win!” she admitted, after claiming their prize at Lottery headquarters a couple of weeks later.

“I’ve still got shaky hands,” her husband laughed.

MO Millions is an in-state Draw Game with drawings held on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8:59 p.m. This Wednesday’s jackpot is estimated at $1.7 million.

In FY25, Franklin County players won more than $21.2 million in Missouri Lottery prizes, retailers received more than $1.9 million in commissions and bonuses, and more than $4.9 million in Lottery proceeds went to education programs in the county.