$270 million Jackpot winner has yet to come forward
The person who bought Friday night's winning $270 million Mega Millions ticket at a Glendale Heights convenience store has not come forward to claim the prize, Illinois State Lottery officials said Sunday.
Officials have set up a phone number for the winner to call to begin the verification process.
“Given the long holiday weekend, we want the winner to know they don't have to wait until Tuesday to come to a lottery office to make their claim, we will come to them,” lottery Director Michael Jones said. “If you are holding the winning $270 million Mega Millions ticket please call (217) 524-5158 immediately.”
Jones said the winner has several important decisions to make, starting with whether they'd like to claim a one-time payment of about $181 million, or choose to be paid in 30 consecutive annual payments.
The jackpot is the largest in Illinois Lottery history. The previous record, a $218.6 million ticket sold in downstate Red Bud in March 2012, went unclaimed for six weeks while the winner assembled a team of financial planners, tax attorneys and investment specialists.
“We encourage the $270 million winner to take similar steps in claiming their prize,” said Jones. “With the Red Bud win, the Lottery met the winner and his team of advisers as part of the winner validation and claim process.”
The winning ticket was sold at a Bucky's Express store in Glendale Heights on Bloomingdale Road. The odds of winning the jackpot were 258,890,850 to 1.
The winner has up to one year from the drawing date to claim the prize.