( CNN ) -- With just 3,700 residents in Red Bud , Illinois , Denise Metzger is using the process of elimination to guess who bought a lottery ticket now worth $ 218 million at her convenience store last month . `` We 're watching to figure out who has n't been coming in , '' Metzger , manager of the Moto Mart , said Tuesday . `` If they got the ticket and are making themselves scarce , that 's what we 've been paying attention to . '' The Mega Millions mystery winner 's identity will be revealed by Illinois lottery officials at the Red Bud Village Hall by Wednesday morning . Mayor Tim Lowry sees the decision by the winner to have the announcement in his southern Illinois town as evidence it 's a Red Bud resident . `` Not knowing who it is , it seems like they want to make a splash in Red Bud , '' Lowry said . It probably did n't help that the drawing happened on the eve of April Fools ' weekend , leading some locals to joke on Facebook and the sidewalk that they had the winning ticket . It kicked off more than two weeks of speculation around town and online . Michigan winner charged with welfare fraud . Red Bud locals commenting on a message board thread threw out several names of suspected winners . `` Names are just going around , we just need to wait and see when they come forward . Congrats to whoever it was ! '' one poster wrote . `` I really do n't care who won . I really do n't want to know , It was n't me so I could care less ! ! ! '' said another . `` I just hope it is someone that needs the money , '' another commenter said . Moto Mart , which has seen a two-fold rise in lottery ticket sales , also seems to be gossip central for lottery rumors . One rumor floating there is that someone ordered 12 new Camaros from the local Chevrolet dealership , Metzger said . `` That 's a big rumor . I had a big laugh about that one . '' The sales manager at Weir Chevrolet Buick GMC shot down that gossip . `` They were Corvettes , '' said Brandon Liefer . `` I 'm just messing with you , '' Liefer added , clarifying that he has no clue who the new millionaire might be and they 've not ordered new cars . The mayor said the `` windfall of money '' could be a boostfor his farming community 's economy , but a person `` can only buy so many groceries . '' The winner may find it tough to stay in a small town like Red Bud and avoid having their privacy invaded , he said . Two other winning tickets were sold for the March 30 drawing that had a record $ 656 million pre-tax payout . Maryland and Kansas allowed their winners to remain unnamed , but Illinois requires them to come forward publicly . The man and two women who shared ownership of the winning ticket in Maryland are public school employees who are known only as the `` Three Amigos . '' The elementary school teacher , a special education teacher , and an administrative worker said they plan to keep their fortune a secret -- and keep working . Metzger and her nine employees at Moto Mart collected their own payoff for selling the winning ticket . Their company gave them $ 50,000 to share from the $ 500,000 bonus paid to the store by the Illinois Lottery .
The $ 218 million winner will be announced in Red Bud , Illinois , Wednesday . Red Bud 's mayor believes the winner is from his farming community . Rumors about the winner spread through the southern Illinois area for two days . Virginia and Maryland election officials allow their candidates to stay anonymous , but not Illinois .