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Subscribe to RSSThe Maryland Mega Millions winners, who are all public school educators, decided to remain anonymous. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
CHICAGO -- The third winner of the record $656 million Mega Millions lottery prize has come forward and will be presented with a check at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Illinois lottery officials said on Monday.
"Respecting the privacy of the winner, we cannot release their name or personal information until then," lottery officials said.
The drawing for the record-breaking jackpot was March 30. It is worth $158 million before taxes if taken in a lump sum, or $218.6 million if taken in 26 annual payments.
The ticket was sold at a gas station in southern Illinois town of Red Bud, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The winner will be presented with a check at a news conference in Red Bud.
The holders of the two other tickets have already come forward, though all opted to remain anonymous. Three friends who work in Maryland's public school system claimed their prize, and a winner in Kansas revealed no details about themselves. Both chose the lump sum.
Under Illinois lottery rules, winners are required to reveal their identities and appear at a news conference.
The Mega Millions lottery is played in 42 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.
Lottery officials reported that the Mega Millions winner hadn't checked his or her ticket until Monday. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.
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I guess he/she was trying to decide if they wanted to collect or not. Or maybe they were just too busy to get around to it until now.
I might have missed it??? Did the McDonald lady turn out to be fibbing???
I guess you could call it fibbing. She should go to jail.
Nah, not "fibbing." Call it what it is -- A BALD FACED LIE!
What the h*** was wrong with her?
Actually, you are advised to take time to hire a lawyer and/or financial adviser (the latter is quite important) to get your finances in order before claiming. This is especially true if you have debts, garnishments, child support, alimony, criminal associates who will break your kneecaps... You also want to take some time to quietly plan investments with your adviser, figure out what kind of interest you might be looking at and how often it will pay out, set aside family trusts if you want, etc., etc.
Also, it is surprising how many people don't check their lottery tickets within a day or two of the drawing, but if that was the case, this wouldn't be the first time a winner didn't even know they won until weeks after the drawing.
There was a big lottery win in Ohio a few years ago. A woman insisted that she had bought the winning ticket and that the January wind had blown it out of her hand just outside the store. Dozens of hapless hopefuls searched around the store lot in zero degree weather hoping to find and claim this lost ticket.
Meanwhile, the actual winner was already meeting with financial experts, preparing to come forward and claim their prize.
The lost ticket lady did have to appear in court on some charges.
The winners are required to attend a new conference in Illinois? That's great, then all you have to worry about is you children getting kidnapped and held for ransom, because everyone will know who you are and that you can afford it.
dirtydog:
You are required to do publicity/promotion for the Illinois Lottery in the form of a press conference. If you do not like that then you do have an option: DON'T BUY LOTTERY TICKETS IN A STATE LOTTERY THAT REQUIRES THE PUBLICITY! Those are the rules of that state's lottery
Too bad they(winners) have to reveal their identity. I think its unfair. I wouldnt want everyone to know that I just won the money. Gives criminals a chance. The phone wouldnt quit ringing for everything(money). Oh well I guess I would just deal with it anyway. Move away might be the best option imo. At least alot of traveling....
If you are still living in the Hood and sending your kids to public school after winning that kind of money - you deserve to have your kids kidnapped... lol.
Taps foot and waits for somebody to take me seriously.
If you have to press charges against a McDonalds employee, just because she is stupid, you haven't got enough to do in life. Isn't being stupid punishment enough?
Maggieadela, I lived in Cleveland (sniff, I miss it) at the time, and the reason she was charged was because of the extra police required to handle the traffic and dangerous people searching through snowbanks at the side of the road. I don't know if she actually went to jail, but she was required to pay the PD back for the time they had to pay their officers.
The people of Illinois have another option: force the god damned lottery commission to change it's rules and permit winners to claim anonymously. If I won, the first thing I would do is force the Lottery to pay me thousands of dollars to act as a stinking promotional shill. They run enough commercials paid for by lottery funds, leave the winners alone!!
The McDonalds lady? wanted her 15 minutes of fame...and it took lying through her teeth to get it. What a moron...
I can understand the anonymity. In todays media driven society...things can get out of hand pretty quick..and the person wanting to stay anonymous gets my vote. I laud her for that.
Tax attorneys, keeping shark investors out of her life..I can see why she didnt come forward immediately.
Good for her...I wonder if shes married? seeing I'm single...
Where is the Mac lady now? Somehow I get the feeling that she'll say that it is her ticket. So sad she lost her ticket.
Idiot. What good is making yourself available to public eye going to do for you...
Well it sounds like this person has no choice. Should they just blow it off?? How dumb are you?
ahem... "Under Illinois lottery rules, winners are required to reveal their identities and appear at a news conference."
..
ya'll better wear a disguise when you cash out your ticket...and change your name and move...after collecting in Illinois...move to arkansas i'll help ya spend it...
Simple solution. Show up at the news conference wearing a gorilla mask or suit, grunt in answer to every question save one. When they ask what you'll do with the money, tell them two words in perfect English,
"Primate Research".
Lol!
You did read the entire article, right? They have no choice, which is wrong. Because every single person who thinks they know said person are going to come crawling out of the woodwork trying to get free cash from said person. Congratulations to them and the teachers who won.
Apparently ROB could not read. :(
The person is REQUIRED by State Law to make himself or herself known. I do NOT agree with that law at all.
I agree. It is a stupid law requiring a person to make themselves known after winning a huge amount of money. This puts their life in danger. I know I would not want to be known I had won the lottery - every Tom, Dick and Harry cousin from the hicks would be knocking on my door with an extended hand.
Apparently Just I-1688098 has no reading comprehension.
"Under Illinois Lottery rules, winners are required to reveal their identities and appear at a news conference."
I do not see anything about State Law here. The RULES of playing the GAMES of the Illinois Lottery are that you have to do promotions or "revealing your identity" when you win a large amount of money. If you do NOT agree with the RULES at all then do NOT play the GAMES of the Illinois Lottery.
Apparently 'GoofyTigre' has no reading comprehension
Read State of Illinois Law: Title 11-section 1770.190 (c)
Goofy dear, get off your idiotic high horse. Thanks.
Whoever the winner in IL is, congratulations!!! Have a blast.
Best wishes, from all of us, too.
Concur...GO NUTS!
Yeah, force them to reveal themselves and have a news conference so they can answer a bunch of stupid, inane questions and ruin their lives by being exposed to every crook, perp, con man, scam artist, lawyer, criminal and a**hole on the planet. The states need to rethink their position on this, treating the winners like criminals by forcing them to expose themselves for no reason except that a bunch of tabloid hungry idiots want to know who won. Maybe the state officials should have to expose themselves to the same potential harm every time they force a lotto winner to. Creeps.
Those were the rules when you bought the ticket. If you didn't like the rules, don't play the game.
Actually, the easy trick around the scams is to incorporate yourself as a Limited Liability Corporation.
While you may not have full anonymity, at least you have an additional layer of ‘force-field’ around you for all the blood-suckers. Personally, I’d be hiring a bodyguard or two to handle all the heavy duty chores when it came to privacy; it would be money well spent.
The lottery is run by the state, so the state can put any requirement on the distribution of the cash as they see fit. In this case, the publicity is just plain good advertising.
Seems to me if you really abhor the notoriety of winning millions, there is a really simple solution to not being subjected to it. Nobody is forcing anyone to get into that pot.
And pray tell, how does not publicizing the winner keep the sharks away? You think anyone could hide winning 158 million dollars?
When the McDonald's worker said she "lost" the ticket, I guessed she had just made the story up to stir her coworkers up into a fit and then it got out of hand. Sure would like to know the rest of the story--where is she and what has happened.
It's safe to assume she's somewhere nasty doing something stupid.
It's not the crooks and scam artists I would worry about, it's the family I have that never had anything to do with me suddenly calling and pretending they are my best friend. Immediate family and those close to me before I won would be free of debt instantly, but I know my temper would get the better of me if distant relatives started caring. Personally I would want to remain anonymous so it's a tad crappy that you HAVE to be publicized.
Excellent question MrPhea!!!! Oh, I lost the ticket......hahahahaha. Who really thought that she was a winner?......only her in her dreams. GIVE ME A BREAK.
MOM, is that you behind that big check?
I don't think anyone should have to reveal themselves if they don' t want to. The world we live in now is full of nut jobs who will kill you for a dollar. I think they ought to be left to themselves and not have to be hoarded by the media and the taking a chance on having to expose yourself to all the so called friends and family coming out of the woodwork to hound you.
I would be to frightened to expose myself and family if I had won that kind of money. I hope they waited this long so they could buy them a house somewhere else so no one can find them. We live in a disfunctional world. We have criminals just watching and waiting for people to prey upon.
I agree Carolyn. You should have the right to be anonymous. I hope this person knows how to say no and get the hell off my property. If I was ever lucky enough to win, I would for sure know how to keep people away from me. Best wishes to this winner.
Lottery officials and the state should have to pay for body guards and alarm systems if there is a stipulation that the winners must reveal themselves. The winners already have to pay for a lawyer, financial planner and an accountant at the very least.
Most folks keep their money in a bank or credit union. Very little is kept on home grounds. Of course, criminals will find any excuse to steal your money; but with that much, one could afford a little security. If I could afford it now, I'd buy it, but I'm poor. Oh well.
Best wishes to the lucky winner. I hope s/he has a wonderful time with the money. And if s/he needs a list of worthy causes that a donation might be in line, I would be happy to provide the list (and I'm sincere about that--none for me.)
(When we played the lottery on this same game, we made a list of valid causes that could use financial support. We "spent" quite a few million on things like support devices for autistic children, companion animals for the handicapped, doctors without borders, etc. We didn't win, oh well; but we still give some. Like I said, we don't have much. It would be great if someone with the means could help these causes and organizations.)
sheesh all states should have the option to remain anonymous, Florida you can't remain anonymous more than likely if I were to ever win something like that when I play every now and then I would pack up and leave afterwards.
Feel that a winners in Illinois should be able to opt to be anonymous... Large amounts of money like that puts them, and their family at risk. Because of that risk those winners leave Illinois and never spend that money in Illinois. Seems to me Illinois needs to rethink those rules.
See?/
People are finally getting smart. You don't go blabbing to the world that you just became a multi-millionaire. That is just plain stupid. You quietly move away to where no one knows you.
I'm sorry but I don't see the purpose of this "law". It doesn't protect anyone and it serves no real positive purpose that I can see. Am I missing something?
It is called promoting in hopes of getting more players. ie show others that a "real" person can win. Staying anonymous makes some think that the states are scamming the general public into playing and that the proceeds are really going to the promoters.
american, thanks for setting the record straight. This is all about making big bucks for the state, and the more it's promoted the more exited people get about winning something for nothing. That's the American way.
It's the state's lottery and they have the obligation to promote its success, and as you say, american, this type of public promotion helps shine the light of day onto an operation that has a really seedy history (think: numbers racket).
If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. If you can't stand the notoriety getting gobs of money for doing nothing, then stay out of the lottery.
Why do some states force you to reveal your identity?
So they can tax the gifts when everyone begs you for money and then when some crackhead robs and kills you they can tax the money again before your children get it.
Actually, the most common way around the laws requiring the winners to reveal their identity is to go to your local courthouse prior to claiming the ticket and requesting your name to be changed. After that, you get a new I.D. in your new name, claim the winnings, then go back to court and have it changed back to your old name. Since you have between 6 months and a year to claim the winnings, and a legal name change only takes a couple weeks to complete, you have plenty of time.
Afterwards, all the media and handout seekers will be hunting a ghost that doesn't exist. Especially if you request the judge to seal the records.
Then the bank won't cash your annual check from the lottery without proper ID... hee hee
Name changes generally are considered open records, so that you can't use the name change to hide from creditors or criminal acts or defraud anyone. You could probably change your name before you claimed your ticket, get all your documents changed over, collect your winnings, and then change your name back, but the judge probably wouldn't seal the record. In Washington State, for instance, you can only have a name change record sealed (for yourself or your minor child) if you are the victim of domestic violence and have a reasonable fear for your safety. Even then, the request for a sealed name change may be denied (although if it is denied, the request itself will still remain sealed)
Whats his name again. I need an operation.
As much as I would love to win big, I can't help but get almost teary eyed when I read these people come forward to claim. I guess perhaps I'm naive and I picture an average person, hard working, family, payed their dues so to speak, middle aged, good person, just someone who will spend the first 10 yrs of their payout really maybe only buying a new car or house and otherwise being the same ole' person their friends and family always knew. I guess I just know how I am and how I"d want others to feel about me if I were to ever win. Congrats winners and please use some of it to help others.
The first thing I would do if I won big would be to see a barracuda attorney then an expert accountant. I would also have myself booked on a world wide cruise of leisure and check out a really good place to retire that would not keep taking (after the big tax payments up front) more money.
When I got back in about three years or so the media hype would be forgotten so even if people knew who I was (Minnesota requires you go public) I could go about whatever, if anything, I wanted to do here.
Tahiti sounds great to me. No snow.
perhaps the motivation for requiring that winners be identified is to assure transparency - that winners are legitimate and not on the inside of the system. Given the history of political corruption in Illinois, this seems reasonable, though I sure wouldn't want to identify myself!
Quite frankly I do not care.. Kind of sour grapes on my part, but I'm not one of the winners, and I could care less! :-P
I would imagine that most states announce the winner by name for legal sake.. to prove that there IS a REAL winner. Winning that amount of money and people are afraid of others seeking them out for a handout? Hmmmm.. let me tell Ya... if I was fortunate enough to play and win.. I sure and the hell wouldn't be a greedy SOB. Pathetic way of thinking. BTW.. please NAME ONE instance where a lottery winners loved one was kidnapped or they were robbed. gimme a break. It's all the greedy people who want to be anonymous.
i was kidnapped...after the kidnappers agreed to give my folks a hundred lotto tickets...they agreed to take me back...
incognito73.instablogs.com/entry/woman-arrested-after-missing-florida-lottery-winner-found-dead/ ....for his lotto winnings. Not as obscure as you might think.
plain bob---shades of "The Ransom of Red Chief"?
I wish that I could have won something. I'm on disability and am struggling to make ends meet. I can't afford my asthma medication and am in desperate need of a new car. I got a couple of tickets, hoping I'd at least get enough to cover that.
The lottery has to be rigged. They prey on the poor, raking in big bucks that the gov't wouldn't be able to get otherwise. It's another tax as far as I'm concerned.
I hope that the winners will choke on their millions.....I could have used a few extra bucks. Can anyone honestly tell me if a poor person EVER won the lottery? Betcha you can't.
Are you serious?
Things are tough all over. The lottery isn't a tax, you don't have to play. It is a game of change with extremely high odds that you will lose. The world is not out to get you, that's paranoia and you should see someone.
Your the reason names should not be posted. Jealousy is ugly. And maybe the winner has some problems he will be able to take care of.
If you could have used the few extra bucks, stop spending your bucks on lottery tickets. I'm glad you didn't win; people like you end up broke within a few years of winning. But keep spending money you can't afford to lose on tickets; it will be more for me if I win.
my two cents... not your real name...cause you wish to be anonymous...plain bob is not my real name...but i'm one greedy s.o.b....
Wow...nastiness. To all those saying 'you play, you show your face, that's the law' chill out. While that may be true, I would venture to guess that the great majortiy of people who play likely don't know that or could never imagine that they would win. Don't get me wrong, if those are the laws, then they will have to deal with them. However, I hope they were all smart and did exactly what Kitty1985 said. That being said, there is no reason to be so nasty with the 'you play, you pay' attitude. How about just wishing them the best and truly hoping that they can navigate through this crazy maze!