Record Powerball winner Jack Whittaker has reported his 17-year-old granddaughter missing, police said late Thursday. Family members had not seen or heard from Brandi Lasha Bragg since 9 p.m. Saturday when she was at her Hurricane home, Putnam County Sheriff's Sgt. Lisa Arthur said.
"At this time we're treating this as an unusual disappearance," Arthur said. "Normally someone would see her at least on a daily basis, someone in the family."
Arthur said Whittaker reported Bragg missing sometime this week. While Arthur has been in contact with Whittaker, she said she did not know his current whereabouts.
Bragg was registered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as of late Thursday. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriff's department at (304) 586-0214.
Whittaker, a 57-year-old businessman, won a $314.9 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas Day 2002. He took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes.
On Tuesday, a magistrate ordered Whittaker to undergo substance abuse treatment and surrender his driver's license following his second drunken driving arrest this year.
Whittaker has been in the news several times since he won the lottery. He spent $14 million to set up a nonprofit foundation to help residents find jobs, buy food or receive an education.
He is named in two lawsuits by female employees of a racetrack who allege Whittaker assaulted them last year; and his vehicle, business and home have been allegedly broken into a number of times.
In September, a man's body was found at his home, though the death was not a crime and Whittaker was out of town. Also, he faces charges for allegedly assaulting and threatening a bar manager in January.
Hope she's alright ....can't say I didnt see something like this coming...the fact that they listed it as an unusal disappearance could be that there was a fight and she ran off.....still, I'll have a good thought for her....
Man, his entire lottery winnings will be gone before he dies, that's for sure. It's very likely they will be all gone within the next five years at the rate he's going.
i have been keeping up with the big winner since he got his money and the sad thing is everyone wants to judge jack for all his bad behavior when the man is only human.yea he has made mistakes but who doesnt the problem is if jack whittaker never won this money there would be no story about him or his family but this is america where everyone must stick the mighty nose in each others business..i pray that his grand daughter is safe im sure this is not a kidnapping as some think cause jack would pay it to save his grand daughter...so i hope others pray to for her safe return.
She was just found dead its all over the news. SO Sad. I bet they regret winning the lottery because with winning the lottery Jack lost his only granddaughter. I pray that nothing like this ever happens to the people I know.
Just want to let the family know my heart goes out to you all in your time of loss. Was praying for you all and will continue throughout this hardship. May God bless you all this holiday season and hold your hands and hearts to the road of healing.
some of you that reply to these articles are extremely stupid... whittaker winning the lottery had nothing to do with his grandaughters death...the truth is his grandaughter like many other teens has a problem with drugs and alcohol...its not in a official report yet but the exam has been completed and results will be released soon giving cause of death as a o.d case.........which was the cause of death for her other friend which was found in whittakers house......give this guy a break and leave him and his family alone specially now that he lost his grandchild....whittaker has done silly things since winning the big one but if it wasnt for the winnings no one right now would even know his business....and to all have a great holiday and be thankful your family is good.
Quote:Originally posted by grimreaper5869 on December 23, 2004
some of you that reply to these articles are extremely stupid... whittaker winning the lottery had nothing to do with his granddaughter's death...the truth is his granddaughter like many other teens has a problem with drugs and alcohol...its not in a official report yet but the exam has been completed and results will be released soon giving cause of death as a o.d case.........which was the cause of death for her other friend which was found in whittakers house......give this guy a break and leave him and his family alone specially now that he lost his grandchild....whittaker has done silly things since winning the big one but if it wasnt for the winnings no one right now would even know his business....and to all have a great holiday and be thankful your family is good.
Actually, some of the replies which you are deeming as "extremely stupid" may in fact have some merit to them. You may not realize it, but when people become wildly famous overnight -- like the whole Whittaker family did, including the granddaughter -- it can cause things to happen which would ordinarily not happen.
From what I understand drugs were involved. There are a variety of reasons why drugs could have been involved, so are you so certain that that family's instant fame did not have something to do with it?
I included a picture of the granddaughter in the news story. Did you notice that it was taken just after her appearance on the Today show? Is that something that normal teenagers do? No, I don't think so.
So you see, there are other points of view besides your own.
This does not lessen or invalidate the family's grief in any way. Perhaps it makes it even more profound. We all grieve for the family.
Please do not confuse some of the comments here as being callous in any way. I think the membership is just trying to air some words of caution to future jackpot winners, so they can avoid many of the mistakes and hardships that the Whittaker family had.
Hope she's alright ....can't say I didnt see something like this coming...the fact that they listed it as an unusal disappearance could be that there was a fight and she ran off.....still, I'll have a good thought for her....
I hope she is ok too. I was just kidding with all the comments that I made in the other post.......I really do hope they find her.
Now he will have to pay. Sheesh, he is having a bad life.
Man, his entire lottery winnings will be gone before he dies, that's for sure. It's very likely they will be all gone within the next five years at the rate he's going.
i have been keeping up with the big winner since he got his money and the sad thing is everyone wants to judge jack for all his bad behavior when the man is only human.yea he has made mistakes but who doesnt the problem is if jack whittaker never won this money there would be no story about him or his family but this is america where everyone must stick the mighty nose in each others business..i pray that his grand daughter is safe im sure this is not a kidnapping as some think cause jack would pay it to save his grand daughter...so i hope others pray to for her safe return.
He should have been anonymous, PLAIN and SIMPLE. He should have formed a trust to claim the prize and had an attorney pick up the money.
IT IS A SHAME FOR THIS GUY BUT IT SEEMS THE PRESS AND HIS FAMILY PRAYS ON PUBLICITY HEY I WISH I HAD ALL THAT MONEY AND THOSE PROBLEMS BE OK
hoping for the best.
jack w. im sorry about your grand daughter
Gossip on the mountain is that his G-daughter is in the hospital from an auto accident.
She was just found dead its all over the news. SO Sad. I bet they regret winning the lottery because with winning the lottery Jack lost his only granddaughter. I pray that nothing like this ever happens to the people I know.
Just want to let the family know my heart goes out to you all in your time of loss. Was praying for you all and will continue throughout this hardship. May God bless you all this holiday season and hold your hands and hearts to the road of healing.
some of you that reply to these articles are extremely stupid... whittaker winning the lottery had nothing to do with his grandaughters death...the truth is his grandaughter like many other teens has a problem with drugs and alcohol...its not in a official report yet but the exam has been completed and results will be released soon giving cause of death as a o.d case.........which was the cause of death for her other friend which was found in whittakers house......give this guy a break and leave him and his family alone specially now that he lost his grandchild....whittaker has done silly things since winning the big one but if it wasnt for the winnings no one right now would even know his business....and to all have a great holiday and be thankful your family is good.
Actually, some of the replies which you are deeming as "extremely stupid" may in fact have some merit to them. You may not realize it, but when people become wildly famous overnight -- like the whole Whittaker family did, including the granddaughter -- it can cause things to happen which would ordinarily not happen.
From what I understand drugs were involved. There are a variety of reasons why drugs could have been involved, so are you so certain that that family's instant fame did not have something to do with it?
I included a picture of the granddaughter in the news story. Did you notice that it was taken just after her appearance on the Today show? Is that something that normal teenagers do? No, I don't think so.
So you see, there are other points of view besides your own.
This does not lessen or invalidate the family's grief in any way. Perhaps it makes it even more profound. We all grieve for the family.
Please do not confuse some of the comments here as being callous in any way. I think the membership is just trying to air some words of caution to future jackpot winners, so they can avoid many of the mistakes and hardships that the Whittaker family had.