Half-billion lotto jackpot claimed by mysterious winner

Someone has come forward with the winning ticket for the $536 million Mega Millions jackpot drawn this month, Indiana lottery officials said Thursday, but no details have emerged about the winner.

Hoosier Lottery spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said a “winner’s representative” will attend a news conference Friday about the jackpot. He noted that Indiana law allows the prize to be claimed by a limited liability corporation or legal trust, which could allow the winner to remain anonymous.

The only winning ticket for the jackpot was sold in Cambridge City, a town of about 2,000 residents roughly 50 miles east of Indianapolis. The small town has been abuzz since the lottery announced that the ticket was sold at a local Speedway gas station, but lottery officials have said the winner may not be local because the gas station is along busy Interstate 70.

“It will be exciting to see who it is,” said Beth Leisure, who heads the town’s chamber of commerce and runs one of the several antique shops for which it is known.

“No one has any clue, which kind of makes me feel like it could be somebody from out of town, but you just don’t know,” she added. “Someone local, that would be nice. Someone who loves the town.”

Rosebrough declined to provide any details about the winner ahead of Friday’s news conference. He said only that a “claimant identity” would be announced.

“That is actually who claims it, that entity,” Rosebrough said. “Not only is it allowed, for big jackpots that’s not an uncommon occurrence.”

In recent years, a handful of big jackpot winners have remained anonymous in Indiana. Those include a 2012 Hoosier Lotto prize worth $34.5 million and a 2008 Powerball jackpot worth $57.6 million. The winners in those cases set up corporations to collect the money.

The winner can claim the prize in full as a 30-year annuity or in a one-time lump sum of $378 million, both before taxes.

The jackpot marked the third-largest in the history of the Mega Millions game, which had gone without a jackpot winner since early March. Tickets are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.