Nobody has to ask me what I think!  Earlier this month I read a similar article about a $2 million Fantasy 5 jackpot that was won in Sunrise.   It doesn't affect my life, but to imagine I've been playing every week for many years and finally someone hits the Lotto and loses the ticket or forgets about it...it's too mind-boggling to process.  I know another explanation could be that the player got sick or died.  That is why I tell people to keep their tickets in a particular place (not the pocket of your dungarees*) and let just one person you trust know. 

*how many times have you washed clothing with a tissue in the pocket?

The odds that so many people won a jackpot and died before they could claim is too high to go with that theory. It would be like, someone won, and died within a few days of winning, and nobody thought about checking the ticket.. multiply by several times. Or they waited 5 months and they were going to claim just before the deadline but then they died? Most winners claim within a week so the odds someone dying in that short a time frame is very rare.

What happens is people play piles of tickets and they don't have time to check and they figure the chance they won is too remote to worry about but they enjoy playing more than the win itself. Or are just sooooo busy they forget.. happened to me once but found out only 2 weeks later, not 6 months. Also could happen that someone reads the wrong set of numbers (the most current drawing wasn't posted yet maybe?) or they got it as a gift and they don't play regularly enough to be thinking about it.

this would never happen to me.....unless the grim reaper knocked on my door

So, true. If I happen to die or get sick or put in a coma or something, my family will have and know about the ticket. 

lmao.....funny that you say that because I told my sister a few years ago "if anything ever happens to me, CHECK ALL OF MY LOTTERY TICKETS!!!!!"

When i buy  lottery   ,i make sure it's in my

wallet, soon after it leaves the lottery machine.

Later on that day i'm checking 2 see if i won!!!!

Larry, I agree with both of your paragraphs, but Florida has a very high amount of tickets that are unclaimed.  One reason is that we have so many tourists that probably throw them in their suitcases as souvenirs.  However, take a look at the average age of the people who win here if you get a chance.  Many winners are over 80.  I have a friend who is 85 who buys tickets and puts them in her sewing basket.  She is very forgetful.  I doubt if she tells her family she even buys them, since they don't even like her playing Bingo. But all she has is her small condo and a social security check, now that husband is gone, so it gives her a thrill. 

Anyway, maybe the percentage isn't very high, but it's still important to me.  I'm not here to lecture, but here's one of many true stories. A woman who had no insurance at all said she didn't need it and fell down a flight of stairs the next week. Of course she couldn't buy it then, but nobody ever thinks something will happen to them. Same with anything else. 

All I was saying is that "SH** HAPPENS like the bumper sticker.  I read the press releases every day and I don't think most people claim the money within a few days of winning, but I agree it's within a few weeks. Chances are if any of us win, we'll make it to the lottery office safely and soundly. But would you take a trip with $3 million in the trunk of your car?  If you have a small piece of paper worth millions, I believe it should be treated like real money, since it can't be replaced.  That's all. 

Just one more comment - let's say that people who don't claim jackpots simply forget to check them as you mentioned.  Wouldn't telling someone you bought a couple of lottery tickets help in that case too?  I wonder how many people who would have missed out are reminded by their spouses or children "Did you check the numbers in the paper, Honey?" 

Be careful with that. Some types of family members might know about the ticket ... and help you die or get put in a coma.

More proof that Good Luck generally flows in OPPOSITION to intelligence. Only an idiot would buy a ticket and not check their numbers!