Truck driver wins $100K Lottery prize in Marston

MARSTON, Mo. — It was a surreal moment when a Memphis, Tenn., truck driver uncovered a $100,000 top prize on a Missouri Lottery Scratchers ticket, while traveling through the state in mid-August.

Tim Dunlap bought his winning “$100,000 Money Vault Multiplier” ticket at Pilot Travel Centers, 917 E. Elm St., in Marston.

“I should have been hollering and screaming,” Dunlap said of the moment he realized he’d won. “But I was so calm. It was unbelievable.”

Dunlap has sampled various tickets over the years when he’s been out on the road, but he said the most he’s ever won on a Lottery ticket in any state is $500.

“I would see the grand prize, but I never thought it’d happen to somebody like me,” he said.

By the time Dunlap claimed his prize at the Lottery’s St. Louis office later that week, he’d had time to formulate a plan for his winnings.

“I’ve had 20 years to think about it,” he laughed. “But that was just a thought, and now it’s real. Right now, it’s really getting real.”

In addition to shoring up his retirement when the time comes, he also plans to share “a little piece” of his prize with his 10 grandchildren.

“And my offering plate’s going to have to go up a little bit more, or He’ll take it all away from me,” Dunlap teased. “That’s a life-changing figure there. I just want to make sure it’s a change in the right direction.”

The “$100,000 Money Vault Multiplier” is a $5 ticket that went on sale May 29. More than $7.9 million in unclaimed prizes remain in the game, including two more top prizes of $100,000.