TIMBERLAKE, N.C. (WTVD) — A Timberlake man won the lottery but couldn’t immediately collect his winnings. Carl McCain tried his luck in the November 4 Mega Millions drawing and matched four numbers. He says, “It was a four times winner, so it was $800 that I won.”

Because of the size of the prize, McCain had to travel from his Timberlake home to the North Carolina Education Lottery’s regional office in Raleigh to claim his winnings. “I filled the form out and give them my ticket, and I sit down and wait,” McCain said.

Instead of receiving a check, McCain says he was handed paperwork explaining that under the North Carolina State Lottery Act, if a winner owes a debt to state or local agencies, lottery winnings, minus taxes, are applied to that debt. McCain says a lottery employee told him, “These two counties you owe money are Lenoir County and Wayne County. I said, well, I never been there before. I don’t know anybody there.”

McCain says he contacted both counties and provided his name and birthdate, but was told there was no debt. However, when he gave his Social Security number, he says he was told, “Another man’s number name is hitting off your social security number.”

McCain says that was the first time he had ever heard of the issue. He wanted more information, but says he was told it couldn’t be released. He says the counties told him they would look into it. After waiting more than a month with no answers, McCain says he called several more times and was told officials were still investigating.

That’s when he decided to contact ABC11 Troubleshooter Diane Wilson. McCain says to Wilson, “I told my wife, I said, you know, we need to call Diane Wilson. I said, because I seen her get refrigerators and washing machines so why can’t she get $800 for me?”

ABC11 Troubleshooter reached out to the North Carolina Education Lottery, which confirmed McCain’s winnings were processed properly and sent to Lenoir County. When Wilson contacted representatives in Lenoir County, they said they had been looking into the issue for more than a month and were still working on it. Shortly after Wilson’s inquiry, McCain received good news. He says, “They erased my social security number out of their databank.”

Within days, McCain received a check for his lottery winnings, minus the required taxes. He later told Wilson, “I was glad that you intervened and came to my rescue.”

Lenoir County says the debt tied to McCain’s Social Security number dates back more than ten years and may have been a case of mistaken identity. It’s still unclear how the error occurred. The bottom line: McCain finally got his lottery winnings and says he’s still trying his luck.

SEE ALSO | NC customer’s Wi-Fi hotspot swap leads to $1,700 bill, ABC11 Troubleshooter gets customer his refund

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A new report from the Office of the State Auditor suggests North Carolina could save millions of dollars by eliminating vacant jobs at the state level.

In an audit released Thursday by the OSA, it was found that at the time of the audit there were 8,846 jobs that have been vacant for six months or longer. The audit defines those as long-term vacancies, and the empty positions are spread across 46 of NC’s state agencies.

Of those 8,846 vacancies, 4,515 have been vacant for a least a year, and 190 have been unfilled for more than five years.

Taken all together, these empty positions have generated $1.04 billon, according to the audit’s findings.

“Five years, let’s just be realistic, that position can probably be eliminated,” State Auditor Dave Boliek said.

The audit also suggests cutting unfilled positions, and it goes a step further and provides guidelines for the reallocations of those funds.

“There are places where we need to reinvest, where we can get a return on investment,” Boliek said. “Nursing, other health care professionals across the state of North Carolina, corrections officials. I will agree with the governor, we’ve got to pay corrections department guards and folks that work in our corrections department more money.”

The audit lists the biggest cause for the vacancies as low compensation or unqualified candidates.

Departments with the highest vacancy rates are the NC Department of Health and Human Services, NC Department of Adult Corrections, the NC Department of Transportation and the NC Department of Commerce.

WAYNE COUNTY, N.C. (Gray News) – Authorities in North Carolina have issued an Amber Alert for a missing Wayne County teenager.

According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, 13-year-old Ariell Denton was reported missing Thursday, and an Amber Alert was sent out just after 4 p.m. local time.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also picked up the alert.

Authorities described the teen as about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds. She has long brown hair and hazel eyes.

Ariell was last seen wearing black-and-white checkered pants, a blue pullover and tennis shoes.

No further information was immediately available.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office urged anyone who may have information about Ariell’s whereabouts to contact the sheriff’s office at 919-580-4064 or call 911.

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