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Three days after the $1.08bn Powerball jackpot was won, the identity of the sixth-largest lottery winner in US history remains a mystery.
An unidentified woman turned up the Las Palmitas Mini Mart in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday claiming to have purchased the winning ticket.
In clips posted on social media, the woman ran from the store in tears, exclaiming: “I’m scared right now, I’m so scared.”
The woman hugged shoppers and collapsed outside the store, refusing interview requests before driving off at speed in a BMW.
The mini-mart owners have cast doubt on her claims, and say the actual winner hasn’t yet claimed their prize.
Sarai Palacios, the granddaughter of owner Nabor Herrera, told The Daily Mail that she believed the woman was faking her “hysterical” celebrations.
“She didn’t win — I’m not sure why she did that. I guess she just wanted to be on TV,” Ms Palacios said.
Mr Herrera told K-CAL he didn’t recognise the woman, and thought “it was fake”. However, his daughter thought the woman’s mother might be the winner. He said most of his customers were Latino, and he hoped the winner was one of his regulars.
The convenience store on the corner of 12th and Wall streets near Los Angeles’ Skid Row will be awarded $1million for selling the winning ticket.
Mr Herrera, a father of four, told K-CAL he would take his family to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on vacation and set money aside for college funds.
A woman claiming to have won the Powerball jackpot turned up to the Las Palmitas Mini Mart in Los Angeles on Thursday
(Inside Edition)
Carolyn Becker of the California Lottery told The Independent in an email on Saturday that the winner had not yet come forward.
She said claims for large prizes go through a thorough vetting process involving interviews with CA Lottery law enforcement officers which can take months.
“It’s not in our practice to publicly confirm or acknowledge that because with jackpots this high, there’s a chance we may get false claims,” Ms Becker said.
“Integrity and transparency are incredibly important to us, so we will probably not know for months and months. They have up to a year to come forward.’’
The winner will have to choose whether to accept a lump sump payment of $558m or receive $1.08bn in annualised payments over 30 years, before tax.
Wednesday’s Powerball was the sixth-largest US lottery prize and third-largest Powerball jackpot behind the record-breaking $2.04bn Powerball which was won last year in California.
The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s drawing were white balls 7, 10, 11, 13, 24 and red Powerball 24.
