Unclaimed $1 million Idaho Lottery prize about to expire…
Last summer, someone bought a lottery ticket in Meridian that won a $1 million prize - but they've never claimed it, and it's about to expire. The Idaho Lottery announced today that the Powerball ticket, which matched all five numbers but not the Powerball, will expire on Friday - and thereafter be worth nothing. The ticket was sold for the June 20, 2012 Powerball drawing. “Time is of the essence for the holder of the ticket to come forward and claim their $1 million prize,” said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery director. “Due to state and federal processing requirements, at 3 p.m. Friday, December 14, 2012, if no one has brought the ticket in for validation, the ticket will expire and we will be unable to pay the claim.”
It wouldn't be the first time. A similar $1 million prize went unclaimed in 2010, and $200,000 prizes went unclaimed in 2008 and 2006. Unclaimed winnings go back to the Idaho Lottery's beneficiaries - the state's schools and its permanent building fund, which builds and maintains state buildings. Click below for the full announcement from the Idaho Lottery.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Last Chance for Meridian $1 Million Powerball Winner to Claim Prize
BOISE, Idaho – Time is quickly running out for the holder of an unclaimed $1,000,000 Powerball ticket that was sold last summer.Friday at 3 p.m. Mountain Time, a winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million will expire if the holder of the ticket does not arrive in Boise at Idaho Lottery Headquarters to claim their prize.The winning ticket was sold for the June 20, 2012 Powerball draw from an Idaho Lottery retail location in Meridian.The ticket matched the first five numbers from that night’s draw, but not the Powerball itself.The winning numbers for that night were 11, 17, 29, 56, 57, and the Powerball number was 14.
“Time is of the essence for the holder of the ticket to come forward and claim their $1 million prize,” said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. “Due to State and Federal processing requirements, at 3 p.m. Friday, December 14, 2012, if no one has brought the ticket in for validation, the ticket will expire and we will be unable to pay the claim.”
This $1 million winning ticket has generated little interest or inquiries from players.A similar situation arose just two years ago, when a $1 million Powerball ticket sold at Huskey’s in the town of Irwin along the Idaho-Wyoming border went unclaimed.Like the winner from earlier this summer, the Lottery received very few inquiries about that ticket, either.
“We remind our players frequently to check their tickets routinely for winners.Too many times we’ve seen players think they did not have a winning ticket because they did not match the Powerball number itself or the jackpot was not won,” added Anderson. “In this case, the winning ticket matched every number but not the Powerball number and is worth $1 million.”
If the prize goes unclaimed, the winning amount will ultimately benefit the Idaho Lottery’s beneficiaries, the public schools and permanent buildings of Idaho.
In addition to the 2010 $1,000,000 unclaimed Powerball ticket, in the past few years, two other “Match 5” Powerball tickets have gone unclaimed, each worth $200,000.One was from Albertsons in Nampa from April 2006 and the other from Malad City in Oneida County in January 2008.
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