Missouri Man Surprises Wife on Christmas With $2 Million Lottery Win
Robert Bowlin waited for three weeks to share the good news with his family.
— -- A Missouri man waited three weeks to tell his wife he had won a $2 million lottery jackpot, withholding the news in order to surprise her on Christmas.
Robert Bowlin, 60, of Platte City, Missouri, purchased the winning ticket at a convenience store and discovered on Dec. 3 that he correctly matched all six numbers in the Missouri Lottery’s jackpot drawing the previous night.
“After looking at the numbers several times, I finally figured out (that I won),” Bowlin told Missouri Lottery officials, according to a press release issued Wednesday.
Instead of rushing home to tell his family, Bowlin, a married father of three and grandfather of two, told only a financial adviser and an accountant.
Bowlin waited three weeks to tell his wife, surprising her on Christmas with the news that they are now millionaires.
“She thought I was messing with her,” Bowlin told lottery officials. “Then when she found out that I wasn’t messing with her, she was happy. I think she was almost sick to her stomach, it seemed.”
Bowlin claimed his jackpot prize on Dec. 29. He was one of two ticket holders to split the $4 million jackpot. He will walk away with $2 million before taxes.
Bowlin, a retired operating engineer, told lottery officials he does not yet have plans for his winnings but plans to keep playing the lottery.
The newly-minted millionaire will have 29 percent of taxes deducted from his jackpot prize, a Missouri Lottery spokeswoman told ABC News.
