First winner of record Mega Millions jackpot comes forward in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Lottery officials say the winner of a share of a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot wants to remain anonymous.

Lottery Director Dennis Wilson says the person came to the agency's Topeka headquarters Friday morning with an attorney and some financial advisers. Wilson says the person does not want to be identified, even by gender.

The winner did not take part in the lottery's news conference Friday afternoon.

Wilson says the winning ticket for the March 30 drawing was bought at a Casey's General Store in Ottawa, about 40 miles southeast of Topeka.

The person is taking the winnings in a lump sum of almost $158 million, or roughly $110 million after taxes.

Winning tickets also were purchased in Illinois and Maryland, making the Kansas ticket worth almost $219 million.

The winner has waited almost a week since the Friday drawing that produced the three winning tickets for the multi-state game. But Kansas law allows someone to wait up to a year to claim a lottery prize — and permits them to remain anonymous.

In other lottery news, a woman who has claimed to have Maryland's winning Mega Millions ticket now says she has misplaced it.

Mirlande Wilson of Baltimore told WRC-TV in Washington on Thursday that the ticket is misplaced.

When asked by WRC if she would claim the jackpot, Wilson replied, "If I find it... I misplaced it."

Wilson had previously said she hid the ticket at the McDonald's where she works.

One of three winning tickets for the record-breaking $656 million prize was sold at a 7-Eleven in Milford Mill. The others were sold in Kansas and Illinois.