SACRAMENTO, February 27, 2004 – Lottery officials want to know the identity of the mystery winner of an unclaimed $28.5 million jackpot sold in San Lorenzo. The winning SuperLotto Plus ticket, drawn on September 10, 2003, was sold at Kavanagh Liquors located at 500 Via Mercado in San Lorenzo. This ticket marks the fourth winning jackpot ticket sold at Kavanagh Liquors, elevating the retailer to the “luckiest retailer” in Northern California.
The mystery winner, however, is about to run out of luck. On March 8, 2004 the unclaimed ticket reaches the 180-day expiration date and the $28.5 million will be added to the pot of money directed to public education. Since 1985, the Lottery has forwarded more than $519 million in unclaimed prize money to public education. This amount is in addition to the existing 34% already mandated to be directed to California’s public education.
The players who have come closest to letting their ticket accidentally expire are Ruben and Michelle Montoya, a couple from San Bernardino. The Montoyas claimed an $11 million SuperLotto Plus jackpot that would have expired the very next day, March 1, 2001. After seeing a story on the news about an unclaimed jackpot, the Montoyas realized that they held the winning ticket and hurried to the nearest District Office to claim their prize. Ultimately, the Montoyas claimed their prize on the 179th day, with barely 24 hours to spare before the ticket would have expired.
Officials ask that Lottery players check their tickets carefully for the following lucky numbers: 34, 43, 27, 20, 7 and Mega Number 6.
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