One Florida lottery resident, or perhaps visitor, lost out on the $15 million they were entitled to at the end of October. According to AOL.com and other reports, state lottery officials announced that the jackpot, which stemmed from a drawing in April, went unclaimed past the deadline.
The winning ticket was bought from The Beer and Liquor Store located in the western Lake Worth area on April 22.
“I have no clue what happened,” said Nimesh Patel, the store’s owner. “They must have lost the ticket.”
Either that, or Patel speculated it could have been a ‘snowbird’ resident who bought the ticket in the spring before heading back north for the summer and completely forgot to even check. Either way the winner won’t be choosing between annuity payments or a lump sum lottery payout in this situation.
As unfortunate an incident as it is for the would-be winner, it’s another example of a phenomenon that’s not so uncommon, according to lottery officials.
“It’s not common for a jackpot this big to expire,” said Keri Nucatola, a Florida Lottery spokeswoman.
While Nucatola stated there is no official data tracking winning tickets that go unclaimed in the state, there was a similar case two years ago at a Tampa-area convenience store where a $16 million winning Powerball ticket went unclaimed past the six months time frame winners have to come forward. It’s safe to say in both cases the winner could have reasonably decided to not continue working, as 52% of winners ultimately do.
The money that was supposed to be won will be split between the Educational Enhancement Fund and lottery coffers. According to the nearby Memphis Fox affiliate MyFoxMemphis.com, 80% of the winnings will go to the educational fund, while the other 20% will be used to launch and fund future games and promotions.
It’s a good deal for the lottery officials, but it’s not the way they want to see their games resolved.
“We want our winners to come forward,” Nucatola said. “We send out press releases and post on social media to try to find those winners.”
