Maryland has a Mega Millions mystery on its hands.
A McDonald's worker claims to have one of the three winning tickets selected in Friday's drawing, but a Maryland lottery official told FoxNews.com early Monday that no one has produced the winning ticket. Making matters even murkier, the woman later seemed unsure if her numbers matched the $656 million jackpot.
"We have nothing to substantiate anything," said Carole Everett, a spokeswoman's for Maryland Lottery. "We're getting no calls."
Each one-third share of the record-breaking prize is worth $105 million after taxes, and officials have said winners were drawn in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland. Neither of the other two winning ticket holders has stepped forward, either.
"We can't wait to greet the winner of this world-record setting jackpot," said Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino. That ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven in Milford. The McDonald's worker who claims to hold the ticket, Mirlande Wilson, 37, has said she bought tickets for 15 co-workers, but that the winner was bought separately and she won't share the money.
“We had a group plan, but I went and played by myself. [The ‘winning’ ticket] wasn’t on the group plan,” McDonald’s “winner’’ Mirlande Wilson 37, told the New York Post, insisting she alone bought one of the three tickets nationwide that will split a record $656 million payout.
The Haitian immigrant and single mother of seven said she plans to come forward with it today. But she was already backpedaling after first crowing about her newfound wealth and then alienating her co-workers.
“I don’t know if I won. Some of the numbers were familiar. I recognized some of [them],’’ she said. “I don’t know why’’ people are saying differently. “I’m going to go to the lottery office [today]. I bought some tickets separately.”
Kansas Lottery spokeswoman Cara Sloan-Ramos said Monday that no one has contacted the lottery about the prize from Friday's drawing. The winning ticket was purchased in northeast Kansas, though lottery officials don't plan to identify the store until the winner comes forward. Kansas law gives a prize winner a year to claim a jackpot, and it allows winners to remain anonymous. The $218 million prize must be claimed either at the Kansas Lottery's headquarters in Topeka or at its regional office in Great Bend.
FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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