$80 million Florida lottery jackpots still unclaimed since December
Think the San Francisco 49ers had a bad day last Sunday?
Someone bought a winning Florida Mega Millions ticket at a Publix grocery store in Jacksonville, Fla., last August. The deadline to claim the winnings? Super Bowl Sunday. But the winner never came forward.
So, while the 49ers missed out on a chance to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy (and the $164,000 per player winners share), someone, somewhere, lost out on a chance to claim $36 million, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
But whoever lost out on that jackpot isn’t alone. Last June, someone bought a winning ticket at a gas station in Kissimmee, Fla., next to Walt Disney World, “the Most Magical Place On Earth.” But someone’s life would have gotten far more magical had they come forward to claim the $44 million jackpot before the ticket expired Dec. 11.
According to Florida Lottery, tickets expire within 180 days of the drawing. To take a lump sum cash payment, the winning ticket must be submitted within the first 60 days, the same time frame for claiming scratch-off and Fast Play winnings.
In all, there have been 30 unclaimed jackpots, ranging from $1.2 million to $66 million, since the Florida Lottery began in 1988, a Florida Lottery spokesperson told USA Today.
The Florida Mega Millions jackpot currently sits at $457 million, with a drawing scheduled for tonight at 10 p.m. central.