Virginia resident Garland Hare, $1 million winner of Virginia Lottery Mega Millions

Virginia resident Garland Hare stopped by a local mini-mart before an overseas trip and decided to buy a Mega Millions ticket while he was there.

The decision would end up winning him $1 million.

Hare, a Salem resident, didn’t realize he had won until he arrived at his foreign destination, according to the Virginia Lottery.

It was then that he discovered he had matched five of the six winning numbers.

The winning numbers were 5-9-15-16-17, and the Mega Ball number was 25. Hare only missed the Mega Millions jackpot by the Mega Ball.

His choices guaranteed him the $1 million prize, but without the sixth number, he ended up missing out on the jackpot prize of $87 million.

He plans to use his winnings to pay his bills and travel.

The winning ticket was bought at the Salem Mini Mart, located at 2319 West Main Street in Salem.

Hare’s ticket was one of seven tickets nationwide to win the $1 million prize.

The odds of matching all six numbers to win the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.