SACRAMENTO – California Lottery officials are anxious to meet the owners of two winning MEGA Millions tickets bought in Los Angeles worth a combined total of more than $380,000. Time is running out for the winners to come forward – both tickets, purchased in April, will expire next month.
Both tickets matched the first five numbers in separate MEGA Millions drawings, each missing only the Mega number. The first ticket, purchased for the April 22 drawing, was sold at the Ralphs Grocery at 5601 Wilshire Boulevard and is worth $176,623. The winning numbers were 37, 19, 52, 32, 45, and the Mega number was 41.
The second ticket, sold at Astro Liquor at 10000 South Avalon Boulevard, was purchased for the April 25 drawing and is worth $184,196. The winning numbers were 22, 48, 3, 31, 54, and the Mega number was 9.
Less than 2 percent of prizes go unclaimed. Most are claimed within the first few days after a draw, but players have up to 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim their prize. For the fiscal year 2006-2007, more than $29 million in prizes went unclaimed. Players can always check past winning numbers by visiting the Lottery’s Web site at www.calottery.com, select the game played and click on the link to “Winning Numbers.”
California Lottery officials want to remind winners to sign the backs of their tickets, keep tickets in a safe place and contact Lottery officials or visit your local Lottery District Office (http://www.calottery.com/AboutUs/Locations) as soon as possible.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $55 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.5 billion in compensation since 1985.