A Pomona nurse identified by her employer as the victor of the record-breaking Powerball jackpot did not win, her family told ABC News.
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John and Lisa Robinson, of Munford, Tennessee, appeared on Friday morning in NY with the ticket they said entitled them to a piece of the $1.6bn prize.
The Robinsons chose to take their winnings, $528.8 million, in a lump sum.
Hundreds gather outside the 7-Eleven, after it was announced the winning Powerball ticket was sold at the store, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 in Chino Hills, Calif. One winning ticket was sold at the store located in suburban Los Angeles said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for California lottery.
Lisa called her boss from the Today show to explain that she wouldn’t be in – but assured them she’d be back to work by Monday. He does information technology, and she works in a dermatologist’s office.
The couple said they bought four tickets at Naifeh’s Food Mart – where one of the winning tickets was sold – in their hometown of Munford, which has a population of just under 6,000 people. He bought four quick-pick tickets, one for each family member.
“We were up all night, ” Lisa said of their reaction Wednesday night.
“I told her that I wasn’t feeling good and that I needed some Advil to get her to come over”, John Robinson said.
“That’s what we’ve done all of our lives, is work”. The Tennessee couple live near the store where the winning ticket was bought.
Under lottery rules, a victor has up to a year to present a ticket.
Neighbor Mary Sue Smith told the AP that she talked with Lisa Robinson on Friday morning and said she asked her to put up “No Trespassing” signs in the Robinsons’ lawn while they’re away.
“I hope not to move”, John said of his Munford address. Early reports Thursday had claimed that a nurse had won in California, but it was then said to have been a prank.
Without a victor, the jackpot would have increased to $2 billion, with a cash value of $1.24 billion, ahead of Saturday’s drawing, the Texas Lottery Commission posted on Twitter.
They say their lawyer advised them to go on TV first as a way of controlling the story.
The New York Daily News says the victor, who has yet to come forward, is a nurse and mother of seven who works at the Park Avenue Health & Wellness Center, a nursing home.
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