Posted April 21, 2023 by: Admin #News

A lucky person in California has won a $1.5 million lottery prize, but they have yet to claim it. The California Lottery has issued a public announcement urging the winner to come forward before the prize expires next week. According to lottery officials, the winning ticket was drawn on October 26, 2022, and has the numbers 19-36-37-46-56, only missing the Powerball number.

The winning ticket was purchased at the Mobil gas station at 15380 Los Gatos Blvd. in Los Gatos (Santa Clara County), and it was one of two that matched five numbers, missing only the Powerball number, in the draw. The other winning ticket has already been claimed.

Lottery officials are encouraging anyone who may have purchased a ticket for the drawing to check their car, junk drawer, wallet, or any other place where they may stash their tickets to see if they have the winning one. They added that there is no way of knowing if the winner is a local resident or someone just passing through.

The California Powerball winners have 180 days to claim their prize, after which the unclaimed prize money goes toward funding public education throughout the state. Since the California Lottery began in 1985, it has given state public schools more than $41 billion.

While it is rare for lottery winners to fail to claim their prizes, it has happened in the past. Five of the then-384 jackpot winners of Powerball and MegaMillions games failed to claim their prizes since 2003.

The California Lottery has advised the winner to sign the back of the winning ticket and submit it to one of the Lottery’s nine offices throughout the state or online. The winner has until Monday to claim the prize, and the ticket must be postmarked or claimed in person.