Unclaimed $1.5B Jackpot Mystery: Winner Died? Ticket Lost?

Unclaimed $1.5B Jackpot Mystery: Winner Died? Ticket Lost?
A woman buys Mega Millions tickets hours before the draw of the $1.6 billion jackpot, at a liquor store in Downtown Wash. DC, on Oct. 23, 2018. Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images
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SIMPSONVILLE, S.C.—Nearly everyone in this small South Carolina town has a theory for the city’s billion-dollar mystery: Who won the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot announced last October?

Maybe the winner was so overwhelmed upon seeing the winning numbers that she or he died on the spot? Maybe the winner is on the run from police and fears a background check? Maybe that winning ticket fell from a car visor, ended up in a trash can and is forever buried at the Twin Chimneys Landfill. Or maybe, the winner is still going on with life as usual, before quietly taking the $878 million lump sum.