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.
It is amazing how careless people are with their money. It would be devastating to find out that I had one of those tickets.
They're not lost, but cali. hopes they are.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 way
with his attitude towards the sum of money in question. "It's a nice prize but, it's not life changing." REALLY?
Just who the hell is he to decide what amount of money can change/alter anyone's personal situation
. $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.
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.
L.L.
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.
I agree although with a milder overtone.
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
Probably a couple of CA Moonbeans that do not want to have more than their fair share of money, ROTFLOLing!
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.
Very good post-Lucky Loser--
Whoever has this winning ticket is $227,955 richer and I sincerely hope they find it
. This is typical negative press from the people who currently run the CA Lottery, which is very poorly run in my honest opinion. With the current budget crises going on in Sacramento, I believe they don't really want the winner(s) to step up to claim the money. Perhaps it could be a relative visiting out of state or out of the country that bought the ticket. To comment that it could be lost at this time is very, very bad PR
.
GOOD LUCK IN WINNING THE BIG LOTTERY JACKPOT!!
Thank you, Dollar419. I honestly try to carefully assess every topic before I post...I'm not perfect!! There are always two sides and then the TRUTH to every story which means we're obligated to find deficiencies in both scenarios in order to be fair. Agree? This is why I have no sympathy for scratchers that get caught up in ticket fraud, like the stories posted here, and want everyone to feel sorry for them
. As players of these games, we're obligated
to carefully research the games we play so we'll know FOR SURE whether we've won or not regardless of what any scanner or
clerk
says.
This way, if there's ultimately a ticket printing error, we're entitled to some form of compensation from the commission(s) because we've acccurately deciphered the ticket at face value and according to the printed payouts. I'm hard but I'm fair. Again, thanks!!
L.L.
who wants to bet that those same people who have misplaced/lost their tickets are the very ones who really really really need it... NOW! but arent checking to see if the 'seeds' they planted bore fruit... it tends to happen with so many things. (seed planing gone WILD)
Update to this story--to Lucky Loser
I just happen to find the store last Friday where this winning lottery ticket was purchased back in March, 2012. It was at one of the local 7-11 stores in Anaheim--the store had proudly displayed the winning lottery sign. I usually purchase several tickets at that particular 7-11 because it is not too far from my job. It must have been the lottery fairy or lottery karma that guide me to go to that store, because I notice the dollar amount right away!! Again, I sincerely hope someone will turn in this ticket.
GOOD LUCK IN WINNING THE BIG JACKPOT!!
Governor Moonbeam is probably putting the arm on the Lottery to come up with some cash for his debt crisis and they wanna know if they're gonna be able to give him this money. That's why they're trying to rush whoever has the tickets to cash 'em, so they'll know if they're gonna get that money for Moonbeam or not.
I guess Governor Moonbeam doesn't know that the way out of debt is to spend like a wild man gone insane.
please tell me it's not the store at ball rd & gilbert st.
It is the 7-11 located on Ball Rd, near State College Blvd., in Anaheim. Were you visiting Southern California back in March or know of anyone who may have bought a lottery ticket there? Please, again, let someone find that ticket!!!
GOOD LUCK IN WINNING BIG
Your posts are so funny and straight to the point!!
No, I was curios, cause used to live near the ball/gilbert store.
Well thank ya kindly, Dollar419!
I bought a ticket last year and I don;t know what the winning #s were but I have my ticket . what was the #s
any more news/info on this? have either ticket shown up?