The Mega Millions mess just got a lot messier. Mirlande Wilson, the supposed "winner" from Maryland who refused to share her portion of the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot with McDonald's co-workers who claimed the winning ticket was purchased with money from an office pool, told NBC News on Thursday that she lost the ticket.
News4 anchor Shomari Stone asked Mirlande Wilson if she was going to claim her "winning" ticket and Wilson replied, "if I find it... I misplaced it," reported NBC Washington. Wilson told Stone that she hid the ticket in the Baltimore, Md., McDonald's where she works.
"I misplaced it," said Wilson, adding that her current situation is "really stressful."
On Wednesday, Wilson and her attorney, Eric Smith, held a press conference to discuss the Mega Millions mess.
"I have not seen the ticket, nor do I want to see the ticket," said attorney Edward Smith, reported FOX News. Wilson, 37, didn't speak during the press conference.
"We believe it to be a legitimate claim," added Smith. "When it is time to present the ticket or whatever it is that needs to be presented to the lottery commissioner, I am sure that we will be there."
"God knows, by next week or next month, this will all be over and we will still be friends," Smith said, according to FOX News.
Mirlande Wilson got herself into a Mega Millions mess after she told the New York Post that she had no intention of sharing her portion of the jackpot -- $105 million -- with her co-workers, who claim they pooled their cash for lottery tickets. Wilson swore she purchased the winning ticket herself; but 15 McDonald's employees were left angered and confused.
"She can' t do this to us!" Suleiman Osman Husein, a shift manager who was one of the 15 members of the McDonald's pool, told the Post. "We each paid $5. She took everybody's money!"
However, Maryland lottery officials said that no winner has come forward to claim the Mega Millions prize. Stephen Martino, the director of the Maryland Lottery, said that the winner has until Sept. 28 to claim the money. The winner must present the winning ticket in person but doesn't have to make their identity public.
"Our status is no different than where we were Saturday morning," Martino told NBC Washington. "No one has represented to us that they have the ticket." Two other winning tickets were sold in Illinois and Kansas.
Details about the winning ticket sold in Maryland were revealed. Martino said that the winning Mega Millions ticket was sold at approximately 7:15 p.m. on March 30 at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Liberty Avenue in Baltimore. The winning ticket was a Quick Pick and was the only one purchased at that time.
Martino told NBC Washington that officials have viewed the surveillance tape but there timestamp on the tape does not match the timestamp on the lottery ticket. Thus, the video is unable to prove who purchased the winning Mega Millions ticket.
The winning Mega Millions numbers for the record-breaking jackpot were: 2, 4, 23, 38 and 46, and the Mega Ball 23.
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