Illinois Lottery Looking for Mystery $3M Winner in Springfield

The Illinois Lottery may be looking for you, but don't worry it's a great thing if they are. Someone just walked out of a convenience store in Springfield with a $3 million dollar winning ticket, but they don't know it yet.

Does this Illinois convenience store look familiar to you?

This is the Qik N EZ located at 430 N Grand Ave E in Springfield, Illinois. According to the Illinois Lottery, someone picked up a Mega Millions ticket from this tiny Illinois convenience store on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. That winning ticket is now worth a staggering $3 million dollars.

The problem with this new Illinois Lottery winner is they seem to be unaware of their newfound wealth as their prize is currently listed on the Unclaimed Prize page. That's not a problem since the winner has a full year to come forward to claim their prize, but you wouldn't want to misplace that ticket, would you?

How much cash would you win from a $3 million dollar Illinois Lottery win after taxes?

According to an online lottery tax calculator, your take home amount after federal and Illinois state taxes are done would be just over $2.1 million dollars from a $3 million dollar winning ticket. While that's a huge chunk of money to hand over to the tax man, $2.1 million is still a life-changing amount of money. Maybe that would inspire a person to find a great accountant to make that number look better? Hey, it's a valid thought.