Merle and Pat Butler, Illinois couple in their 60s, claim share of $656 million Mega Millions prize Merle and Patricia Butler, the final winners of the record $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, accept a symbolic check for more than $218.6 million in their hometown of Red Bud, Ill. A married couple from the small Illinois town of Red Bud stepped forward Wednesday to claim the third and final share of the record $656 million Mega Millions jackpot. Merle and Patricia Butler, who are in their 60s and lifetime residents of Red Bull, were revealed as the winners at an Illinois Lottery news conference at the Village Hall in tiny Red Bud, a farming community of 3,700 about 40 miles southeast of St. Louis. The share of the prize the couple will claim is worth roughly $158 million in a lump sum before taxes. Merle Butler, 65, is a retired a computer analyst for a life insurance company. Pat Butler, 62, was a programmer analyst for a financial and investment services company. The ticket was bought at a MotoMart convenience store in town. Merle Butler said he started checking the winning numbers against his ticket on the night of the March 30 drawing. The first thing I spotted was I had the Mega Ball number. Then I started on the other numbers. The further I went the more they matched," Merle Butler said. "After I looked at it for a couple of minutes, I turned to my wife and said, "We won." She kind of looked at me funny and I said, "No, we won." And then she started giggling. She giggled for about four hours. "It was just very exciting," Pat Butler said of the experience. The couple said they don't have any immediate plans on how to spend the windfall. Merle Butler said he and his wife have met with financial advisers and are examining ways to invest the money "instead of trying to think of things we could spend it on." "Over the next few months, possibly a year, we'll start setting up differ things we can use it for," he said. Red Bull Mayor Tim Lowry said national buzz over the identity of the Mega Millions winners ever since the March 30 drawing out his town on the map. "We were just this little corner of the world but now the world knows who we are," he said. The other two winning tickets for the record jackpot - believed to be the largest lottery prize ever -- were sold in Kansas and Maryland. Those ticket-holders have chosen to remain anonymous, though the Maryland winners have been identified by the Maryland Lottery as three public school employees. Unlike the other two states, Illinois requires the winner's identity to be revealed. The winning numbers for the drawing were: 2-4-23-38-46 and the Mega Ball 23. The Mega Millions prize the couple will claim is worth roughly $158 million in a lump sum before taxes. The winner used a quick pick to select the lucky numbers. The other two winning tickets for the March 30 drawing were sold in Kansas and Maryland. Those ticket-holders have chosen to remain anonymous. The winning numbers for the drawing were: 2-4-23-38-46 and the Mega Ball 23