BOISE, Idaho—
A northern Idaho woman has claimed a $190 million share of the Mega Millions lottery jackpot, Idaho Lottery officials said Wednesday.Holly Lahti will share the second-largest lottery jackpot in history with Jim and Carolyn McCullar of Ephrata, Wash., officials said.
Jim, 68, and Carolyn, 63, McCullar appeared at a news conference last Thursday to announce they'd won half of the $380 million jackpot.
Lahti wasn't on hand for Wednesday's announcement regarding the Jan. 4 drawing, and her age and hometown were not released.
"She's requested that the media respect her privacy and not attempt to contact her until she's prepared to speak to you," Lottery Director Jeff Anderson said at a news conference.
He referred to Lahti as a "delightful young lady" and said he tried to persuade her to go public because there are "a lot of curious people out there." But he said she has a lot to get in order first.
"We expect she'll be coming forward shortly," Anderson said.
Although Mega Millions is played in 41 states and Washington, D.C., the two winning tickets were purchased in cities just 125 miles apart in the Inland Northwest.
Post Falls has about 26,000 people, while Ephrata, Wash., has about 7,500 people.
The winners had to match five numbers plus the "Mega ball." The numbers were 4, 8, 15, 25 and 47, and 42 as the Mega ball.
The McCullars had played some combination of those numbers for years because they're based on the couple's birthdays.
