Anonymous Winner Claiming $1.5 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina lottery says a single winner has stepped forward to claim the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot from a drawing last October.

A lottery commission statement says the person submitting the claim for what was the second-largest lottery in U.S. history has chosen to remain anonymous.

It adds that the winner has chosen the cash option, a one-time payment of nearly $878,000,000. It says that’s the largest jackpot payout to a single winner in United States history.

The winning ticket was sold between Oct. 20 and Oct. 23 last year at a convenience store in Simpsonville, a suburb of the South Carolina city of Greenville.

For months, South Carolina residents had speculated on why the winner hadn’t stepped forward. The winner had until April 19 to claim the prize.