Buzzbee
09-09-2003, 12:35 PM
There was an unclaimed lottery jackpot that went unclaimed. It was for $50 million. Anyone been vacationing in Miami-Dade and buy a forgotten lotto ticket?
Here's the link:
Story about unclaimed lottery ticket (http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/09flalottery.html)
And for those to lazy to link:
$50 million Florida Lotto jackpot goes unclaimed
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press
TALLHASSEE, Fla. -- No one redeemed the winning ticket for a $50 million Lotto jackpot by the Tuesday deadline, making it the largest jackpot in Florida Lottery history to go unclaimed, officials said.
The money will be returned to the Lottery and used for promotions or prizes, said Lottery spokeswoman Sheila Griffin.
The winning ticket was sold in March in Miami-Dade County at Kohl's Food Market in North Bay Village.
"I think somebody lost that ticket, no doubt about it," store owner Mohammad Azim Hossain said. "I checked my tickets, I didn't match the number. I know all my customers, all my players -- nobody came and asked."
The deadline to redeem the ticket had been 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The winning numbers for the March 12 jackpot were: 22-23-35-45-50-53.
Lotto winners have 180 days to claim their prizes. Surprisingly it's not that uncommon for winners to lose out on millions. Since the game started in 1989, 19 Lotto jackpots have gone unclaimed.
But none have been nearly as big. The largest had been $15 million that went unclaimed in 1991.
And Griffin can't recall someone coming in after the expiration to try to claim a prize.
"We've never had anyone come in and beg," she said.
Unclaimed prizes are used for lottery promotions or prizes, such as a scratch ticket that included Harley-Davidson motorcycle giveaways along with cash prizes.
"It helps us support our games and the more tickets we sell, the more we help education," Griffin said.
Lottery officials can only speculate who might have bought the ticket.
"We thought that it could have been someone vacationing who might have bought a ticket and forgotten about it," Griffin said.
Here's the link:
Story about unclaimed lottery ticket (http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/09flalottery.html)
And for those to lazy to link:
$50 million Florida Lotto jackpot goes unclaimed
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press
TALLHASSEE, Fla. -- No one redeemed the winning ticket for a $50 million Lotto jackpot by the Tuesday deadline, making it the largest jackpot in Florida Lottery history to go unclaimed, officials said.
The money will be returned to the Lottery and used for promotions or prizes, said Lottery spokeswoman Sheila Griffin.
The winning ticket was sold in March in Miami-Dade County at Kohl's Food Market in North Bay Village.
"I think somebody lost that ticket, no doubt about it," store owner Mohammad Azim Hossain said. "I checked my tickets, I didn't match the number. I know all my customers, all my players -- nobody came and asked."
The deadline to redeem the ticket had been 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The winning numbers for the March 12 jackpot were: 22-23-35-45-50-53.
Lotto winners have 180 days to claim their prizes. Surprisingly it's not that uncommon for winners to lose out on millions. Since the game started in 1989, 19 Lotto jackpots have gone unclaimed.
But none have been nearly as big. The largest had been $15 million that went unclaimed in 1991.
And Griffin can't recall someone coming in after the expiration to try to claim a prize.
"We've never had anyone come in and beg," she said.
Unclaimed prizes are used for lottery promotions or prizes, such as a scratch ticket that included Harley-Davidson motorcycle giveaways along with cash prizes.
"It helps us support our games and the more tickets we sell, the more we help education," Griffin said.
Lottery officials can only speculate who might have bought the ticket.
"We thought that it could have been someone vacationing who might have bought a ticket and forgotten about it," Griffin said.