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Maryland Says Mega Millions Winner Has Come Forward

The second of three winning tickets in last month's $656 million record-breaking Mega Millions lottery has been turned in, officials at the Maryland Lottery just announced. They didn't say who came forward, but it seems unlikely that it's Mirlande Wilson — the woman has offered a, to be charitable, confusing tale about whether she may or may not have purchased one of the winners.

If it were her, we suspect she would have made that known. Instead, as the Baltimore Sun reports, Maryland officials say the person who bought the ticket in their state has asked to remain anonymous. They plan to hold a news conference Tuesday morning to at least provide a "storyline" about the Maryland winner.

Winning tickets were also sold in Kansas and Illinois. The Kansas prize has been claimed. The winner there is also trying to remain anonymous. The Illinois ticket has not yet been turned in. That state requires that winners go public.

If taken as a lump sump, each winning ticket is worth almost $158 million — or roughly $110 million after taxes, according to The Associated Press.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.