Huge $14.6 million lottery jackpot not claimed
The winner of a $14.6million lottery jackpot has missed out after not coming forward to claim the prize.
A lottery winner from Arizona has missed out on their $14.6m jackpot after failing to show up in time to claim the prize. The winning ticket (£11.1m) was sold in Goodyear, on June 2 2019.
But the winner did not claim the prize before the six month (180 days) limit ran out. Additionally, this is the biggest ever prize to go unclaimed in Arizona. The ticket expired on December 2 at 5pm.
Gregg Edgar, Arizona Lottery Director, said…
“There is nothing more exciting than to award a large jackpot, like this $14.6 million prize, so we are always a little sad when we see one of these prizes expire unclaimed.
“These dollars will be utilised to enhance our player’s experiences with future games and fund a variety of beneficiaries that have tremendous impact for our community.”
Have there been anymore unclaimed prizes?
It’s not that uncommon for a winning lottery ticket to go unclaimed. However, the prize is usually much less than $14.6 million.
The biggest ever unclaimed win in the United States was a massive $77m (£58.5m) jackpot. The ticket bought in Georgia in 2017. In 2017, a total of $2.89billion (£2.2bn) worth of lottery wins were not collected across the United States. Furthermore, 167 prizes worth $1 million or more went unclaimed in fiscal 2017.
Individual states usually decide what happens to unclaimed cash. It almost always it is donated to good causes. For example, $835,000 (£634,000) of the prize will be donated to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force. The organisation tracks down online child abusers.
