Mega-mystery: Who won $195 million?

Officially, all anyone can say for sure is that someone bought a golden lottery ticket at a South Jersey liquor store - one worth half the record $390 million Mega Millions jackpot.

Unofficially - judging from the exuberance of coworkers and friends - two Cape May County people soon could haul in $195 million in winnings.

But, since no one has come forward, New Jersey's big lottery winner remains anonymous.

"Until someone comes to us, I can't confirm anything," lottery spokesman Dominick DeMarco said yesterday evening.

Early yesterday, lottery officials said two winning tickets had been bought for Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, which had the biggest American lottery jackpot in history. One was purchased in Georgia, the other at Campark Liquors, in Woodbine, Cape May County.

Later in the day, lottery officials held a news conference at the liquor store, without naming the winners.

"It's really exciting and a lot of fun," said store owner Jim Schroder. "I just hope the person who won it is someone who really needs it."

Soon, word began to spread that a woman named Frances Wilson, who works with disabled men at the Woodbine Developmental Center, had won the New Jersey prize.

"The entire facility has been buzzing all day with the news, and I think people here are just thrilled that this happened to her," said Robert Armstrong, the chief executive officer at the center. "People were talking about it everywhere, all day long."

Word also spread through the state Department of Human Services, which operates the Woodbine center.

"It's great news when you hear about somebody who has a career helping others winning $180 million," said Human Services spokeswoman Pam Ronan.

She said Wilson had been an employee since 1998 with a salary of about $36,000. Wilson works as a vocational trainer, teaching 18 men skills for landing and keeping a job, Ronan said.

Wilson hasn't quit her job, but she did call off yesterday "to deal with all that was going on," Armstrong.

She couldn't be reached later for comment.

Rich Wilson, a line cook at the Bellevue Tavern in Cape May Court House, also claimed the winning ticket, according to two published reports. It was unclear if Rich Wilson and Frances Wilson are related.

"He never missed a day's work in 10 years," Bellevue Tavern owner Dennis Roberts told the Cape May County Herald newspaper. "He is a tremendous worker, a great guy. He rides his bike to work in all kinds of weather. It's great news for him to win this kind of money."

While the mystery continued in New Jersey, Georgia winner Ed Nabors wasted no time coming forward. By the end of the day, the truck driver had agreed to take a lump-sum payment of $116.5 million, minus the federal government's 25 percent cut.

"I'm still numb," Nabors said.

New Jersey's winning ticket would be worth the same lump payment, or $7.1 million a year for the next 26 years, lottery officials said, noting that the numbers could still change.

The holders of the winning combination - 16-22-29-39-42, with the Mega Ball 20 - beat astronomical 1-in-176 million odds.

The largest previous multistate lottery jackpot was $365 million in 2006, when eight workers at a Nebraska meat-processing plant hit the Powerball lotto. The Big Game lotto, the forerunner of Mega Millions, paid out a $363 million jackpot in 2000.

Mega Millions tickets are sold in a dozen states, including California, New York, Texas and Ohio.

The New Jersey winners - whoever they may be - have up to a year to claim their winnings, said William T. Jourdain, acting director of the New Jersey Lottery. He recommended that the winners sign their tickets and meet with a financial adviser and a lawyer before coming forward.

"I'm sure we'll be hearing from them quickly," he said.