SACRAMENTO – The rightful owner or owners of a California Lottery ticket need to step forward to claim a prize of $184,196 by the end of the day if they are to beat the 180-day claim period.
With the final countdown on, representatives of the California Lottery are asking players to check every last secret hiding place they have to determine whether they can claim the MEGA Millions® ticket that was purchased in Los Angeles for the April 25 draw. If the ticket is not claimed, its prize will be forwarded to California schools.
The ticket matched the first five numbers drawn nearly six months ago. The numbers were – 19, 32, 37, 45 and 52. It missed the Mega number of 41. The ticket was sold at Astro Liquor at 10000 South Avalon Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Less than 2 percent of prizes go unclaimed. Most are claimed within the first few days after a draw. For the fiscal year 2007-2008, nearly $26 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 back 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.