Two big-money Mega Millions tickets could be lost, CA Lottery official says

May 31, 2012, 10:31 am (27 comments)

Mega Millions

Two months after a record-breaking Mega Millions lottery draw, two tickets valued at $227,955 each remain unclaimed, and a California Lottery official said Wednesday the tickets — including one sold in Hollywood — may very well have been lost.

California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said he "would lean toward" predicting that the two tickets, which matched five of six winning numbers, will never be turned in, considering how much time has passed since the $656 million draw in March.

But, he said, three co-workers from San Jose brought in a winning ticket in mid-May and nonchalantly explained they "wanted to let things calm down a bit."

Traverso added that winners who match five of six numbers have six months to claim their prize.

"Every day that goes by, the odds increase that the ticket is lost," Traverso said. "It's not an amount of money where you want to wait and figure out your financial situation. It's a nice prize, but it's not life-changing."

He said the lottery keeps track of unclaimed tickets valued at $150,000 or more and such tickets go unclaimed "maybe once or twice a year at most." The highest percentage of California Lottery retailers are in Southern California, which therefore has the highest percentage of winners — and lost tickets, he said.

A Mega Millions ticket sold in Pomona, California, won the $32 million jackpot Tuesday night, which means the jackpot will reset for Friday's draw.

Thanks to w794728 for the tip.

LA Times

Comments

zinniagirl's avatarzinniagirl

It is amazing how careless people are with their money.   It would be devastating to find out that I had one of those tickets.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

They're not lost, but cali. hopes they are.

ttech10's avatarttech10

Wow, calm down lottery officials. They have four months left to claim, right? Which means they still have some time left to make sure they do things right. It may not be millions upon millions but it is a large amount of money and they may want to make sure they have everything in order to collect.

 

Hold off on the "they'll never be turned in" talk until there's less than a week left.

mcginnin56

Lost, misplaced, went through the wash cycle, fido ate it, thrown away? OR:


Sitting in a safe, underneath a mattress, in the freezer, in hand's of trusted attorney or family member?

mrylndw's avatarmrylndw

Any amount of money that would allow me to pay bills, buy groceries, medicine, a six pack, a tube of lipstick, a pair of shoes, and fill up the gas tank, is a life changing amount of money....I'd be able to breathe again.

HoLeeKau's avatarHoLeeKau

I agree mrylndw.  In CA they don't pay state tax on lottery, so that would be around $150K after taxes.  That would definitely be life changing for me too.  Remodeling the house so every thing works would be a huge stress relief.  And there would still be some left to put away for when I need a new car or water heater/furnace/whatever.

faber98

it is a relatively paltry amount of money for anyone to be worried about being harrassed or having to consult lawyers or money managers. this is just some dumbass who misplaced the tickets. they don't even probably know they had the winning combo's, so no one is fretting over it that's for sure.

Lucky Loser

Nice mix of views here. I believe it could go either way in terms of possibilities but, suggesting that both tickets are simply lost is very unlikely. This Traverso guy kinda rubs me the wrong wayMad with his attitude towards the sum of money in question. "It's a nice prize but, it's not life changing." REALLY?Skeptical Just who the hell is he to decide what amount of money can change/alter anyone's personal situationWhat?. $200K+ is a good bit of money to pay a house off, car, student loans, kid's tuition, etc. etc...and these are life changing accomplishments.Yes Nod FWIW, I've seen where people have been harrassed for winning less money than this...$100K less. 

Most of all, I saved the best for last. His comment was definitely not good for business...he's an arrogant dumba**!! Why? It's almost like he's knocking the prize of matching 5 of 5!!! Not many people get this lucky. He should've acted very excited, at the least, even if he really wasn't, in an effort to try and promote more sales. If I was his boss, I would've jumped dead in his a** after hearing such a comment.Argue


L.L.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Will a State still collect the taxes if a ticket is unclaimed. I'm guessing their the ones that want the winners to come foward.

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

Quote: Originally posted by Lucky Loser on May 31, 2012

Nice mix of views here. I believe it could go either way in terms of possibilities but, suggesting that both tickets are simply lost is very unlikely. This Traverso guy kinda rubs me the wrong wayMad with his attitude towards the sum of money in question. "It's a nice prize but, it's not life changing." REALLY?Skeptical Just who the hell is he to decide what amount of money can change/alter anyone's personal situationWhat?. $200K+ is a good bit of money to pay a house off, car, student loans, kid's tuition, etc. etc...and these are life changing accomplishments.Yes Nod FWIW, I've seen where people have been harrassed for winning less money than this...$100K less. 

Most of all, I saved the best for last. His comment was definitely not good for business...he's an arrogant dumba**!! Why? It's almost like he's knocking the prize of matching 5 of 5!!! Not many people get this lucky. He should've acted very excited, at the least, even if he really wasn't, in an effort to try and promote more sales. If I was his boss, I would've jumped dead in his a** after hearing such a comment.Argue


L.L.

I agree although with a milder overtone.

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

I err on the side of caution with any claims, there are millions of reasons for the delay in claims. To speculate that its a "GIVEN" that the tickets are "Lost" is purely jumping the gun. They are simply playing mind games trying to draw the winner forward....

And YES I would definitely say that 225k is Life changing....I have 225 thousand ways to change my familys' life with it! :P

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Probably a couple of CA Moonbeans that do not want to have more than their fair share of money, ROTFLOLing!

ttech10's avatarttech10

Quote: Originally posted by Lucky Loser on May 31, 2012

Nice mix of views here. I believe it could go either way in terms of possibilities but, suggesting that both tickets are simply lost is very unlikely. This Traverso guy kinda rubs me the wrong wayMad with his attitude towards the sum of money in question. "It's a nice prize but, it's not life changing." REALLY?Skeptical Just who the hell is he to decide what amount of money can change/alter anyone's personal situationWhat?. $200K+ is a good bit of money to pay a house off, car, student loans, kid's tuition, etc. etc...and these are life changing accomplishments.Yes Nod FWIW, I've seen where people have been harrassed for winning less money than this...$100K less. 

Most of all, I saved the best for last. His comment was definitely not good for business...he's an arrogant dumba**!! Why? It's almost like he's knocking the prize of matching 5 of 5!!! Not many people get this lucky. He should've acted very excited, at the least, even if he really wasn't, in an effort to try and promote more sales. If I was his boss, I would've jumped dead in his a** after hearing such a comment.Argue


L.L.

I know, really. With the amount of debt some can have (student loans, mortgages, vehicle, credit cards and then anything they may be behind on like simple bills for gas, power, cable or phone) a win like this can make all of those disappear and still have some change left over. Instead of fighting their debt most of their life they'll be able to actually enjoy it. I'd call that life changing.

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by ttech10 on Jun 1, 2012

I know, really. With the amount of debt some can have (student loans, mortgages, vehicle, credit cards and then anything they may be behind on like simple bills for gas, power, cable or phone) a win like this can make all of those disappear and still have some change left over. Instead of fighting their debt most of their life they'll be able to actually enjoy it. I'd call that life changing.

I Agree!, ttech10.  After paying off apx. 31% U.S.A. Federal Income Tax (including or excluding donations/etc.), paying off past utilities, past education, and/or other debts, winner is in a good position.  Afterwards, a purposely 'medium spending' person could have at least 1 year of "breathing room' if currently unemployed (and finding high enough paying work within 12 months), due to this tidy lottery win!

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