Florida Lottery Winner Loses $36 Million as Deadline Expires
The grand prize winner of Mega Millions awarded by the Florida Lottery has lost $36 million after the deadline set by the organizers for collecting the money had expired. The winning ticket was purchased at Publix in Jacksonville, Florida and the drawing was held on August 15 with the winning numbers: 18, 39, 42, 57, 63 for the white balls and 7 for the Mega Ball.
The last day to claim the prize was Sunday, February 11, but no one showed up at the Florida Lottery offices, leading the prize to be declared void. The winning buyer had a period of 180 days to claim the $36 million they won, but no one demanded it. Mega Millions highlighted that the odds of winning the jackpot are more than 302 million to one.
Mega Millions and the Florida Lottery are urging their regular buyers to check their lottery tickets to claim their intended prizes before the collection deadlines expire and avoid another case like this.
After no one claimed the $36 million prize from Mega Millions, the money will be sent to the Educational Improvement Trust Fund of the state. Florida law requires that 80% of unclaimed prize funds from expired tickets be transferred directly to the Educational Improvement Trust Fund, with the remaining 20% being returned to the Lottery to be allocated to the prize fund awarded to future Mega Millions winners. The money could also be used for special promotions and prizes.
There have been other similar cases of unclaimed prizes, including a $26 million prize in California that was not claimed in 2021 after a woman mistakenly washed the bill that was inside the dirty clothes and a $77 million Powerball ticket that was not collected in Georgia in 2011.