Prize money goes to state school aid fund
A winning Mega Millions ticket sold in Michigan expired Wednesday and the $1 million prize went to the state School Aid Fund.
The ticket, which expired at 4:45 p.m., was sold in Grand Rapids at the CVS Pharmacy, located at 727 28th Street Southeast in Grand Rapids. The winner matched the first five numbers drawn — 25, 28, 36, 45, and 53 — in the Aug. 5, 2014 drawing.
Mega Millions tickets are valid for one year from the date of the drawing.
It was the first major Michigan Lottery draw game prize to go unclaimed in 2015. In 2014, five major prizes went unclaimed adding nearly $1 million to the Michigan School Aid Fund. Those unclaimed prizes were:
- $138,727 Fantasy 5 prize. The winning ticket expired on March 10, 2014. It was bought in Southfield at the Smokers Depot and Convenience Store, located at 27214 West 8 Mile Road.
- $250,000 Mega Million prize. The winning ticket expired on March 31, 2014. It was bought at the South End Market, located at 1701 Saginaw Street, in Flint.
- $250,000 Mega Millions prize. The winning ticket expired on April 14, 2014. It was bought in Southfield, at the 8 Mile Foodland, located at 18880 8 Mile Road.
- $100,000 Fantasy 5 prize. The winning ticket expired on May 8, 2014. It was bought in Novi, at the 7-Eleven, located at 24111 Meadowbrook Road.
- $218,304 Fantasy 5 prize. The winning ticket expired on Aug. 18, 2014. It was bought in Garden City, at the Garden City Fuel Stop, located at 32889 West Warren Road.
The record for an unclaimed Lottery prize in Michigan is $34 million. It was set in 1998, when a winning Michigan Lotto game ticket, sold at the Meijer, located at 1350 West Lake Lansing Road in East Lansing, went unclaimed.
Two other major Michigan Lottery draw game prizes must be claimed this year or those prizes also will go to the state School Aid Fund. Both of those prizes are for the Fantasy 5 game:
- $328,843 Fantasy 5 prize. The winning ticket expires on Oct. 12. It matched the winning numbers drawn on Oct. 12, 2014: 02-19-30-37-38, and was purchased at Harrison Liquor and Wine, located at 735 Harrison Boulevard in Lincoln Park.
- $50,000 Fantasy 5 Prize. The winning ticket expires on Nov. 30. It matched the winning numbers drawn on Nov. 28, 2014: 10-21-23-26-28, and was purchased at Five Star Liquor, located at 7951 Chase Road in Dearborn.
Fantasy 5 tickets are valid for one year from the draw date.
Thanks to Philip for the tip.
Oops! i forgot to check my ticket in time!
Wasnt me.....
I hate seeing these stories. Why on earth would someone buy a ticket and not bother to check it or take care of it?
Could be a number of reasons. Maybe the ticket got lost, accidentally thrown away, or the person passed away.
It was not meant to be. Poor unfortunate Soul.
They could be so distracted by their Cell Phone and Social Media that they didn't have time to check their Lottery Ticket(s)...
Better Luck next time.
I hope the unlucky person never finds their ticket now. It would suck finding the ticket and realizing you missed out on that much money.
Didn't take care of your ticket, forgot to check, tossed in the trash by mistake, got washed from being left in the pocket??
Oh wellllllllllllllllll...not my outhouse,not my odor..............
This person really don't need to find this ticket now. I'll only hurt their feeling, a big ouch! So, Congratulation to the children & Michigan School Aid Fund. IT not wasted. It is going to make it better for a lot of children.
Not my bed,not my buisness.
With two $250M MegaMillions wins going unclaimed in 2014, it shouldn't be surprising the same thing happen with a $1M MegaMillions winner in 2015. Making the prizes more valuable doesn't change players behavior when it comes to checking their tickets. Some players are only likely to check their tickets when they hear someone local won big.
Right- like that Californian who only decides to come forward "without his ticket" after seeing his pic on TV saying " that's me there". Funny thing is, well not funny but people will buy concert tickets months in advance, and will literally mark their calendars knowing full well that they going to show up regardless- yet lottery tickets are sometimes not given a second thought after purchasing. It could well be that the person bought a single ticket and forgot about it.
I'm already way too tired of hearing the lottery suits making us believe this and that blah, blah, blah about the money going to a good cause, be it education, children's fund or whatever "good cause" they can conjure up. Here is my honest take on this. If a prize goes unclaimed, for whatever reason, that money should go back to the players pot, be it to the lower tier prizes, free raffle numbers or however they can come up with to make sure that all the players have a shot at it. If they are really ADAMANT ABOUT THE MONEY GOING TO A GOOD CAUSE, I have no problem with that, on one condition, that they match dollar for dollar any unclaimed prize that they are willing to give to a good cause. If they can do that, then I'll understand that they are really serious about their giving the money to a good cause, if not, then it's just another smokescreen.
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In Iowa they post the video of player buying $1 million plus winning tickets and have a jury identify that person. Michigan is a "snooze you lose" state.
I only play by subscription, all small prizes are automatically credited to my account. If I am lucky enough to win a jackpot or large prize, the lottery will contact me. So, I can't loose out!
Snoozers shouldn't waste their money on lottery tickets no matter which state they're in.
Or, RJOh, it may have been a "gifted" lottery ticket ... given to an ungrateful person unwilling to check their ticket's drawn numbers! [One may lead a horse to water, but cannot make it drink!]
....yeah, until the next computer glitch.
Remember California did this not too long ago, not that long after the drawing. Made poor person out to look like a criminal buying the winning ticket.
I'm with you myturn. So far only the lucky for life subscription ticket has made it to the P O Box. Mega Millions and MegaBucks Doubler should arrive shortly. It is nice that they send out a winning check vs crediting someone's account. My original copies are @ the bank safety deposit box. Likewise we get contacted from the Mass. lottery with a big win and have to travel home to Braintree, MA to get the dough. That wouldn't bother me in the least...lol.
Well said Master! Forget good causes, how about putting it back in the pot.
They claim the money is going for School Aid but that could mean teachers salaries, vacations, pensions!! Is that why there's no breakdown of where the funds will go in this article? As you can see from this chart, most of it goes to salaries. What about the kids? Only a combined 15% goes to scholarships!!
Todd, please try to get a detailed list of where this money will be spent next time we have this happen again. Inquiring Lottery Players would like to know!
Being so the ticket sold at a Pharmacy, it's a good chance that the winner may have forgot about the ticket, lost or misplaced it, or the player may have expired.
Ah, does anyone/anything) really expire [other than lottery tickets, that I accept]?
Yikes, Stay organized.
I agree with you Golfer about how the funds are misappropriated. Only a fraction actually goes to helping out the kids and that is a real shame. Sadly, the lottery education programs in other states are all similar.