Mystery over the missing £33 million National Lottery jackpot ticket deepened Monday after Camelot said it was urging the public to "keep searching" despite the press outing a 'winner' of the record draw.
Susanne Hinte was unmasked as a potential claimant by national media on Saturday after she reportedly produced a ticket showing all of the winning numbers but without a barcode or date stamp.
The 48-year-old is said to have received begging letters from those desperate to share her good fortune, but now the firm behind the Lottery say players should ignore the reports and continue their search regardless.
Susanne Hinte is reported to have put her winning ticket in the wash
Camelot, which runs Lotto, says that while it does not comment on individual claims, the hunt is not over.
A spokesperson told HuffPost UK on Monday: "We've had a large volume of queries about this prize but we're still encouraging players to continue to search for the ticket.
"People get in touch to double check the numbers, sometimes people present tickets that could be genuine, or sometimes a ticket might only have certain information visible - which is convenient.
"No valid claim has been accepted at this time."
Hinte's home in Worcester, where her daughter spoke to reporters
Remarkably, Natasha Douglas, Hinte's daughter, suggested to the Sun that her mother had never claimed to have won in the first place.
Speaking at her home in Worcester, Douglas said: "She (Hinte) has never said 'I've won the lottery', she's said she has the winning numbers and I've seen them.
"She's said if she is the winner, great. But if she's not the winner, she's not the winner.
"The ticket has been through the wash, the numbers are visible but faded.
"She wanted to stay anonymous but obviously her name has got out through people talking on Facebook.
"If she has won the jackpot she will move house, we will all be gone."