By Todd Northrop
TOPEKA, Kansas — The holder of one of three winning tickets in last week's record $656 million Mega Millions drawing came forward Friday to claim a share, Kansas Lottery officials announced Friday afternoon.
The winner — a single ticket holder — has chosen to remain anonymous, state lottery director Dennis Wilson said.
The announcement was made at an afternoon press conference at state lottery headquarters in Topeka.
Under Kansas law, lottery winners can choose not to publicly reveal their identities. The winner has retained legal counsel and financial advisers and "looks forward to retiring," Wilson said.
Kansas was one of three states where three tickets matched the winning numbers — 2, 4, 23, 38, and 46, with Mega Ball number 23 — amounting to an equal share of roughly $218.6 million, before taxes, under the annuity option. The Kansas lottery player purchased the winning ticket at a Casey's convenience store in Ottawa.
The winner has chosen to take a one-time lump-sum payment of about $157 million before taxes.
"It'll take a few days for us to transfer the money to their account. It was a single ticket holder — one person claimed the ticket," Wilson said.
"They were still just in awe that they had won it," Wilson said of the winner, who didn't know the ticket was a winner until Monday.
"They checked it over 10 times ... and still had a hard time believing it," Wilson said.
As for choosing to remain anonymous, Wilson said the winner obviously doesn't want the publicity. "We all have to understand that these kind of winners need time to digest. They were still in awe that they had won it," Wilson said.
"They're like all of us. They think about the possibility of winning but they never think that it would hapen to them — but it did. It proves real people really win — and you could be next.
Two other winning tickets were purchased in Maryland and Illinois.
The Kansas winner is the first to officially come forward, just a week after the winning numbers were picked.
Meanwhile, Maryland lottery officials have been responding to a flurry of questions from the media this week after a Baltimore-area woman told the New York Post that she had one of the winning tickets. However, in a bizarre twist of the story, Mirlande Wilson, a 37-year-old single mother of seven who works at McDonald's, told the Post on Friday that she isn't sure where she last had the ticket.
"I'm still looking for it. I haven't even looked in my uniform pants yet," the Post quoted Wilson as saying. "I'm still looking everywhere to find it, in my purse, everywhere."
The state's lottery director said Thursday he hasn't seen the ticket, but he also says no one else has come forward saying he has it.
Carole Everett, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Lottery, said Tuesday she doesn't "put much stock in that story."
"She claims she won," Everett said. "She can't produce a ticket. ... In our opinion, until they walk in that door, hold that ticket, produce valid identification and our security people can process and validate it, it doesn't matter."
If Wilson is determined to be a winner, a showdown could be brewing with her McDonald's co-workers. They are demanding a share because they say they pooled their money to buy several tickets. Wilson has said the ticket she bought was separate from that.
Thanks to B$Rizzle and hearsetrax for the tip.
Smart move. It is too many crazy people out here ready to take advantage of you and turn your life upside down.
Congratulations to the Kansas winner! May they find peace and happiness knowing that they can retire comfortably now.
"It proves real people really win."
Are you kidding me? Aren't we all real people playing the lottery?
They should let all lottery players to claim anonymously.
ditto,
I dont expect to see these folks on LCML either,
i think ppl. are getting smarter about this stuff,
at the same time i not worried about running out of idiots to entertain us.
Yes Thrifty it should, but once a state starts out w/ public disclosure, its going to be difficult to change that.
ps my ditto comment was at the 1st 2 posters.
What a great story........... with a wealthy "anonymous" ending.......... Wouldn't it be nice to go down the street with a grin on your face everyday for many years to come knowing that you have a little 100 million dollar secret ????
anonymous is lame. we should atleast see who won to proove that its real. on a side note, if you live in a small town where the winning ticket was purchased and you lived there for many years an suddenly your house is up for sale, the townspeople will know who the winner was.
If you want to retire with millions and have a quiet life.. Earn it. If you win out of pure luk it should be known publicly. If you can't handle the attention maybe don't play. Stick to your local smaller jackpot games.
Truth.
Yea, i normally have a smile for ppl. i meet up w/ so no one would suspect.....
ohh wait, at work ppl. would say...whats w/ you ? then i would have to.... oh ...nevermind i won't be there. LOL
look this is the town where the ticket was won. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa,_Kansas looks like the old west, thats how small this town is. i think it would be tough to really remain anonymous.
Thats where the ticket was purchased, didnt say the winner lived there correct ??.....Could have been someone passing through
The world's biggest lottery jackpot is won in two states where you can claim it anonymously and in one state that you can't.
Mega Millions is doing such a great job.
Is there evidence that letting the winner remain anon. has cost the lottery players ?
anon. could have the oppisite effect, if PA. was anon. maybe they would'nt be trying to "sell" their operation.
guessing you're in PA. if it changed to anon. would you quit playing ?
How about not playing the lottery since players are not treated fairly?
Can we say that Kansas lottery officials kept the money for themselves. Where is the real winner? I do not see any. Have you seen any?
The should have shown at least a picture of the winning ticket. I do not see any integrity in Kansas lottery.
HiFi, Minnesnowta,
I can think of plenty of reasons to stay anonymous and not one reason not to.
I think despite the reasons each of you gave for wanting to know who the winner was, you're don't have any valid reason to. A while back someone around here made a score on a Pick 5 and people just could not stand knowing who it was. The convenience store where the ticket was bought posted having sold a winner but wouldn't tell anyone who it was, so people hubng around for over a week trying to find out. Some people not only want to be the one with the info, they want to be the first one with he info.
I hope if either of you ever hit a jackpot you eill see why you should rethink this.
Want to make a list of reasons, pro and con? And picture yourself as having won thejackpot, not a spectator dying to know who won the jackpot.
The media should forget about that lady from Maryland and try to reveal the identity of the Kansas winner.
Yeah? You gonna stand outside their house and protect them from killer leprechauns?
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/229819
There is a way to resolve that Thrifty, ........Move to Kansas, go to work for the lottery commission as an accountant, move up into the admin position and look in the yearly books......Remaining anonymous is a smart move.........You don't get information, you don't get squat and THAT irritates the "Nosey Rosey's" of the world who believe they have a right to know anything about anyone whenever they want......Ain't freedom wonderful ????
Hifi, thanks for the link, but just the same in my travels around the country,
and living in different states i found that most ppl. mind their business,
thought that was especially true in towns like this one.
Time*treat, I guess is fair that most states require lottery players identity?
Some people will whine about anything & everything!
This is the way ALL Lotteries should be, Anonymous period....!!!
To many folks have to deal with other things involving winning the lottery when they have to disclose who they are.
Everyone should sign a petition to have the their States have these people remain anonymous...!
Seeing is Believing. I will never believe that Kansas lottery has a winner until I see a picture of the winner.
Hay..........I hope that the person who won doesn't live within 250 miles of that town !!!!....really P*ss the "WaanaKnowYourBiz" folks right off !!! Or better yet, is a visitor from Germany !!!!
Some people should mind their own business!
And whine about something else .........................
time*treat
if i lived in a town like that, and seen this guy around,
i'd be sure there was a meth factory somewhere in the nearby surburbs.
LOL
dpoly1, would you quit playing if PA. changed to anon. ?
Proving that what's real? The winner? The jackpot? Honestly I don't think that revealing the winners of every jackpot is going to prevent hoaxes of any sort. They still happen whether everyone knows you or not. It's already been proven repeatedly the consequences of revealing winner identities to the public and the harm that comes to those winners. Once you get your check, you're basically on your own.
I don't mind basic information about the winners themselves (gender, age, town) but to reveal the actual name and show their picture is where all the real trouble starts.
I wish the lucky winners plenty of uninterrupted nights of
and plenty of days that include plenty of 
The lottery integrity is in doubt when 2 out of the 3 winning states for the world's biggest lottery jackpot allow you to remain anonymous.
AAAAAAMEN hearse !!!!
How about playing the lottery like a lab rat and not winning?
Exactly, who needs more proof, anon. is WTG, you hear me Gov. Christie ?
IDK why I would stop playing because you can claim your winnings anonymously .......
The Evil Greed of Envy is far too prevalent today, everyone is "entitled" to what belongs to someone else!
I would love it if everyone had the option to be anonymous!!!!!!!!!
?????????????????????????????????
Thrifty, if your state went anon. would you stop playing ?
Glad to see someone from my state win......just wish it would have been me lol
I wouldn't say "fair"; "reckless" or "irresponsible" is more like it.
MADDOG10, how can we get that started ? can we do that on LP ?
it would stop me from playing .
I feel that lottery players should be able to remain anonymous in every state.The lottery should treat every player equally.
Come awwwwn KSp...we know it was you,,give up the goods !!!!!