California man claims share of 2nd-largest US lottery jackpot

FRAZIER PARK, Calif. — The California Lottery has revealed the name of one of the winners of the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot — last October’s $1.765 billion Powerball bonanza.

Theodorus Struyck represents a group of winners who bought the ticket at a store in the small Kern County mountain town of Frazier Park, the lottery said in a press release. No other information about Struyck was released.

Calls to a telephone listing for Struyck continuously rang busy Monday.

Kern County TV station KGET found no one home at Struyck’s house after his name was released Friday but did interview two neighbors.

“He adores his grandchildren,” Mary Dreier said. “He’s just really pleasant to have around. I noticed yesterday he put up that posted no trespassing sign.”

Rick Kotnik said he has frequent long talks with Struyck about fishing but did not know where he was.

“And if I knew I wouldn’t tell you,” he joked.

The jackpot was won on the 36th draw in that Powerball sequence, a long run that allowed the sum to grow enormously.

The ticket was purchased at Midway Market in the town 75 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The family-owned business received a $1 million bonus for selling the jackpot ticket.

The U.S. lottery record was set by a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won in California in 2022.

Currently, the estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night’s draw was $687 million and Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot was an estimated $875 million.