Man dies after win on lottery TV show
On TV
? Hoosier Millionaire: 7 p.m., Saturday, WXIN (Channel 59)
By John Holl
[email protected]
January 24, 2004
The winner of this week's "Hoosier Millionaire" game show died after being hit by a pickup truck just hours after the show's taping, authorities said Friday.
Carl D. Atwood, 73, won $57,000 on Thursday during a taping of the television game show in Indianapolis, Hoosier Lottery Director Jack Ross said.
Carl D. Atwood
After the two-hour taping, which will air tonight, Atwood returned to his hometown of Elwood with the check, Ross said.
About 7 p.m., Atwood was crossing Main Street a block from his home -- on his way to the grocery store where he had bought the ticket that got him on the show -- when a black pickup rounded a corner and struck him, said Elwood Police Chief Toby R. Barker.
"It was at an unlighted intersection, and Mr. Atwood had dark clothing on," Barker said, "so the driver did not see him before he hit him."
Atwood suffered a head injury, Barker said. He was taken to a local hospital and transported to an Indianapolis hospital, where he died.
The driver, Brian Harris, 29, an Elwood firefighter, will not be charged, Barker said.
Elwood, a city of about 10,000 in Madison County, is about 45 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
"We are going to air the show," Ross said in a telephone interview. "That is what they (the Atwood family) wanted to do, and at the end of the show we will have something in memory of Carl Atwood."
A woman who answered the phone at the Atwood residence Friday afternoon, but declined to identify herself, said the family was too grief-stricken to speak about the accident.
Contestants for "Hoosier Millionaire" are selected from players of a scratch-off lottery ticket game.
Every 13th week of the show, the winning contestants from the previous 12 weeks are invited to compete for $1 million.
"We will certainly have a place on that show for someone who the family chooses to take his place," Ross said.