It Was Remarkably Easy To Find The Latest $80 Million Powerball Jackpot Winners, And That's Wrong

Anthony Pura was able to talk to the Dawsons on the phone from a Frisco City store.

When Channel 3 reporter Anthony Pura started looking for $80 million Powerball winners Alice and Wayne Dawson, he found it surprisingly easy to contact them.

He traveled to Frisco City, Alabama, pop. 1300 and hometown to the April 11, 2015 jackpot winners to try and find out more about them.

Neighbor Barbara Sheffield remembers the couple as she talks to tv reporter Anthony Pura.

A member of the church and neighbor Barbara Sheffield knows the Dawsons, and thinks no one deserves it more.

"Just great people. Really good people. Just really down to earth," said Sheffield.

The State Line Gift Shop where the Dawsons bought their ticket, located at 11208 U.S. Highway 97 in McDavid.

This McDavid lottery store looks deserted, but it hides a secret... it was where the Dawsons bought the $80 million Powerball ticket.

They were the only recipients of the draw's jackpot.

The retailer will receive $40,000 from the lottery organisation for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.

Anthony engages the help of this obliging local store woman to find the Dawsons.

Like many small town residents she was helpful and friendly.

It was remarkably easy to locate the Dawsons as the tv reporter discovered.

The helpful store woman found their number in a local telephone directory and Wayne Dawson, 68, answered the phone.

He was happy to talk to Anthony, but didn't want to meet the tv interviewer.

Anthony Pura talked to Wayne Dawson for several minutes, but was unable to meet with the winners personally as the family didn't want any extra publicity.

Alice and Wayne Dawson have been playing the lottery since 1988, and on the day they played they had crossed the state lines to buy the winning tickets in a McDavid store.

Wayne said they plan to invest the money, maybe build a new house in the area, and donate money to their church (shown above) in Mexie, Alabama.

They cashed in the $80 million prize to receive the winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $53,440,213.76.

The winning numbers for the Dawsons Powerball jackpot prize.

"This is a blessing in our lives and proves that anything is possible with faith in God," said Alice Dawson, 60.

She said "We plan on using our winnings to help our friends, family and our church."

OUR TAKE: The Dawsons needed to stay low to save themselves from unwanted publicity. They should have...

Cancelled their phone straight after knowing about their win.
Put a privacy block on their phone or,
Buy a new cellphone with a prepaid plan and only give that number to trusted family and friends.
Be prepared to throw their phones away and get another as soon as someone outside their known group rings them.