Numerical coincidence prompted $754M Powerball winner to buy ticket: 'It was a sign'

(NEXSTAR) – A Washington woman revealed to be the winner of a record Powerball jackpot claims she purchased her ticket after seeing a “sign” at a grocery store.  

Becky Bell, of Auburn, stopped into her local Fred Meyer on Feb. 5 to purchase $20 worth of lottery tickets. She usually buys the same tickets every week, but after catching a glimpse of the then-estimated jackpot amount on a lottery vending machine — $747 million — she knew she had to shell out an extra few bucks for an additional Powerball ticket, according to a press release from the Washington Lottery.

Bell, as it just so happens, has worked for Boeing for the last 36 years. And just days before she walked into that supermarket, Boeing delivered the company’s very last 747 aircraft, to instead focus production on newer, more fuel-efficient planes.

“That’s when it hit me … I had to buy one more ticket,” Bell told the Washington Lottery.

Bell checked her ticket the morning after the Feb. 6 drawing and learned she had won the $754,550,826 grand prize, which is the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game. She also woke up her children to verify what she was seeing.

“I’ve never won more than $20 in my life, so you can imagine my shock when I realized what had just happened,” Bell said.

Speaking later with lottery officials, Bell chalked up her win to more than just a cosmic coincidence.

“I told you it was a sign,” Bell said.

Bell settled on the case option rather than the annuity, taking home around $309 million after taxes, lottery officials told USA Today.

Bell added that she intends to share the winnings with her family. She was also planning to retire from Boeing in June, though she recently decided to work only until the end of March.