Mega Millions winners lie low

Mega Millions winners lie low

None of the three winners of the $ 656 million Mega Millions jackpot in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois has come forward.

And it's not that unusual, lottery officials say.

"For a jackpot of this amount, it's normal that people will want to get a financial adviser and think this through," said Cara Sloan-Ramos, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Lottery.

That's not stopping the frenzy around one of the largest lottery jackpots in history. The jackpot fueled rumors of winners, fake photos of winners on Twitter and Facebook, and claims by people who say they or their relatives won.

Thursday, the director of the Maryland Lottery, Stephen Martino, urged residents to check their tickets. He said no one has produced the winning ticket, despite two reports of people from Maryland winning the lottery.

"There have been any number of rumors," Martino said. Many people believe the winner has claimed the prize, he said, so "we wanted to make sure people knew the ticket has not been claimed."

Mirlande Wilson, a Baltimore woman, claimed to have a winning ticket. At a news conference Wednesday, her attorney, Edward Smith Jr., said he hadn't seen the ticket. Smith and Wilson asked reporters to leave her alone.

Smith said Wilson will claim the prize and he was preparing for possible challenges. Wilson's co-workers at a McDonald's restaurant claim she bought tickets for a group pool and is trying to take all the money.

Another claim by a mother who said her son won the Maryland jackpot turned out to be false.

Linda Bobo, 64, of Mississippi said her son, Michael Dronet, a Glen Burnie, Md., roofer, won the Mega Millions. Later, during a conference call with Bobo, Dronet and a TV reporter, Dronet told her a friend had played a joke on him and made him think he had the winning ticket, she said.

Lottery officials say it's not unusual that almost a week after the winning numbers were announced, no one has come forward. Each winner will get $ 218.6 million.

"We've heard rumors, but no one has contacted our office," Sloan- Ramos of the Kansas Lottery said. "Its a little overwhelming. More than likely, the winner is a regular person who now has $ 218.6 million to figure out what to do with."

Winners have two years to claim the prize in Kansas, one year in Illinois and until Sept. 28 in Maryland. They can choose to remain anonymous in Kansas and Maryland and will be identified in Illinois.

Cicily Maton, a Chicago financial adviser, said if people know they have the winning ticket, it makes sense they haven't come forward yet. She says it is smart for them to first put together a team of attorneys and financial advisers to help them deal with the windfall.

"It's wise to take as much time as you need, so you can have a good plan in place," she said. "They may have told select family members, and not even then because suddenly you find you have relatives that you didn't even know you had."