It looked like business as usual at the Liberty Road McDonald’s and the workers there couldn’t comment one way or the other, but everyone wants to know the skinny on the outcome of the “storied” lottery ticket that supposedly garnered a third of last week’s Mega Millions game.
Although no winning ticket holder has come forth, one Marylander, Mirlande Wilson, has enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame by claiming to be the winner of the largest lottery in history. “We had a group plan, but I went and played by myself,” said Wilson in her interview with the New York Post. “I was in the group, but this was separate. The winning ticket was a separate ticket.”
According to Wilson and a group of her McDonald’s coworkers, there was a pool of money collected to play the lottery game. This is about the only thing that all of the people involved agree on. At 7:15pm last Friday night someone walked into a Baltimore County 7-11, tried their luck at the Mega Millions lottery game, and walked out more than $105 million richer- after taxes. Lottery officials report that a winning ticket was purchased from the Milford Mill convenience store chain at 8014 Liberty Rd. mere hours before the jackpot number sequence was pulled and announced.
Surveillance video cannot confirm that Wilson purchased the winning ticket with her own money, and she now refuses to show anyone the ticket. Wilson, a 37-year old native of Haiti with seven children, has disappeared from public due to pressure and threats from her co-workers, with whom she says she will not share a dime.
“We can’t say anything until she comes forward,” said a manager working inside the 7-11 that now proudly hangs a “We Sold A Jackpot Winner” sign on the window. A jackpot said to be the largest ever.
“We knew last Tuesday when it didn’t hit that it was going to go to $476 million, which would have made it the largest jackpot in the United States, if not the world,” said Maryland Lottery Director, Steven Martino. “By Wednesday it had grown to $500 million, and by noon on Thursday it was up to $540 million.” The lottery payout reached a record breaking $656 million before being pulled by a handful of winners.
A total three winning tickets were sold: one in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland each.
Winners of the jackpot have 182 days to contact lottery officials with a signed ticket and proper identification. That time is cut down to 60 days if the winner plans to take the cash and run, otherwise winners, by default, receive equal annuity payments for the 25 years. This means that once validated, winners of the jackpot prize money can choose to either receive $5.59 million every year, or one large payment of $105 million. “No one has come forward. We haven’t been contacted by anyone. We haven’t been contacted by a representative indicating they are representing the winner, so we haven’t heard anything about who has the winning ticket,” said Martino. Maryland does not disclose information about winners, making it an easy option for the Maryland winner of the monumental prize to go anonymous to the public forever. Martino said he was “aware of the story” but that Wilson, “has not independently contacted the lottery or any of its representatives,” as of Tuesday.
The Mega Millions lottery is played across the country in 44 states. Maryland Lottery officials have said that the jackpot number was a quick pick purchase, and one of several winning lottery tickets played on that night. Four $250,000 tickets were sold from Maryland, including one from a 7-11 at 4918 Harford Road, and another 7-11 in Timonium, Md. The Maryland Lottery Customer Resource Centers are open to validate claims 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. The winning numbers were 2-4-23-38-46 with a Mega Ball 23.
