640m dollar jackpot winner surfaces sans ticket

Washington, Apr 5 (ANI): A woman in Maryland, USA, who claims to be one of the three winners of the record jackpot lottery of 640 million dollars, appeared at a news conference with her lawyer but without the ticket.

Marlinde Wilson had earlier said that the winning ticket was stashed somewhere in the McDonald's restaurant where she worked.

"I have not seen the ticket, nor do I want to see the ticket," Fox News quoted attorney Edward Smith as saying.

Wilson, who was an hour late for the news conference, stood behind him. She did not speak.

"We believe it to be a legitimate claim.

"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," he said.

Meanwhile, Maryland State Lottery Director Stephen Martino announced a 2 pm press conference on Thursday at which officials said he would discuss the "status of the winning ticket," among other things.

Although scant information was given, that event will likely be more illuminating than the news conference Smith gave on Wednesday.

Smith told the media gathered in his cramped office not to pester his client, who bought tickets for a pool of workers at a Baltimore-area McDonald's but claimed the winning ticket she holds was bought separately.

"God knows, by next week or next month, this will all be over and we will still be friends," Smith said.

Wilson, 37, said that only she knows where she has kept the ticket.

"I left my ticket there, and it's somewhere safe that only I know about," she told the New York Post through a Creole-speaking translator.

"I don't think she wants her 15 minutes of fame.

"We just want y'all to go home," Smith said.

A Maryland Lottery spokeswoman said that no one has claimed the record-setting prize as of Wednesday afternoon. Three winning tickets were sold in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois. Of those states, only the winner in Illinois must be identified. (ANI)