Eddie Tipton

The mystery of the unclaimed $16.5 million hot lotto ticket remained unsolved for more than two years. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation had looked into it. The Attorney General's Office had looked into it. But no one had made much progress. And then in 2014, Rob Sand, who was working as the Assistant Attorney General in Iowa, was handed the case file. Happy birthday, his boss said.

It wasn't even clear that a crime had been committed. Rob didn't know how to move forward. But included in the case materials, he found a DVD, the security video from 2010. He watched it over and over. There are two camera angles. One taken at some distance from the register. You can't make out the person's face at all from this angle. Just what he's wearing. Jeans and a leather jacket.

It wasn't even clear that a crime had been committed. Rob didn't know how to move forward. But included in the case materials, he found a DVD, the security video from 2010. He watched it over and over. There are two camera angles. One taken at some distance from the register. You can't make out the person's face at all from this angle. Just what he's wearing. Jeans and a leather jacket.

And his build. The way he moves. The second angle is closer, shot from above and behind the register. The man has what looks like a sweatshirt hood pulled up over his head and a baseball cap underneath it. He's looking down most of the time, even when he hands the clerk the money. So no matter how many times Rob Sand watched the video, he just couldn't see much.

And his build. The way he moves. The second angle is closer, shot from above and behind the register. The man has what looks like a sweatshirt hood pulled up over his head and a baseball cap underneath it. He's looking down most of the time, even when he hands the clerk the money. So no matter how many times Rob Sand watched the video, he just couldn't see much.

The video had been kept from the public, but Rob Sand started to think that maybe someone out there wouldn't need to see the man's face to know who he was.

The video had been kept from the public, but Rob Sand started to think that maybe someone out there wouldn't need to see the man's face to know who he was.

They put out a news release, and news stations broadcast the video across the country.

They put out a news release, and news stations broadcast the video across the country.

This is Ed Steffen. He spent years working at the Multistate Lottery Association. It's called MUSL for short. And when he heard the voice in the video, he knew exactly who it was. Eddie Tipton, his colleague and the head of IT security for the Multistate Lottery Association. Ed Steffen wasn't the only person who recognized Eddie Tipton on the video clip.

This is Ed Steffen. He spent years working at the Multistate Lottery Association. It's called MUSL for short. And when he heard the voice in the video, he knew exactly who it was. Eddie Tipton, his colleague and the head of IT security for the Multistate Lottery Association. Ed Steffen wasn't the only person who recognized Eddie Tipton on the video clip.

Another colleague at the lottery, who was a good friend of Eddie Tipton's, also saw the video and recognized Eddie's voice. But he thought it couldn't possibly be his friend. There had to be something wrong. So he did a little of his own investigating. He used audio software to remove the white noise from the video file.

Another colleague at the lottery, who was a good friend of Eddie Tipton's, also saw the video and recognized Eddie's voice. But he thought it couldn't possibly be his friend. There had to be something wrong. So he did a little of his own investigating. He used audio software to remove the white noise from the video file.

He visited the Quick Trip where the ticket was purchased to measure the height of the shelves and the width of the floor tiles. And then he did some sort of analysis to try to show, for example, that the feet of the man in the video were too big or small to be Eddie's, that the man in the video was taller or shorter than his friend.

He visited the Quick Trip where the ticket was purchased to measure the height of the shelves and the width of the floor tiles. And then he did some sort of analysis to try to show, for example, that the feet of the man in the video were too big or small to be Eddie's, that the man in the video was taller or shorter than his friend.

He later said, when the FBI guys came in, I wanted to be able to tell them it wasn't Eddie. Once I did this, it was like, well, it is Eddie. Six days after the video was made public, the Department of Criminal Investigation received a tip that the purchaser was Eddie Tipton.

He later said, when the FBI guys came in, I wanted to be able to tell them it wasn't Eddie. Once I did this, it was like, well, it is Eddie. Six days after the video was made public, the Department of Criminal Investigation received a tip that the purchaser was Eddie Tipton.

Investigators visited Eddie Tipton at his office at the Multi-State Lottery Association, where he told them that on the date the lottery ticket was purchased, he wasn't even in the state of Iowa. He said he'd been visiting family in Texas. They subpoenaed his phone records and bank statements, which showed that his story was not quite true.

Investigators visited Eddie Tipton at his office at the Multi-State Lottery Association, where he told them that on the date the lottery ticket was purchased, he wasn't even in the state of Iowa. He said he'd been visiting family in Texas. They subpoenaed his phone records and bank statements, which showed that his story was not quite true.

He'd been in Des Moines at the time the ticket was purchased. They also looked at Eddie's LinkedIn profile and saw a familiar name. He'd been endorsed by a man named Robert Rhodes. Investigators had heard this name before from Philip Johnston, the man who claimed to represent the winning ticket holder back in 2011. Eddie Tipton was arrested and charged with two felony counts of fraud.