- A $36 million winning lottery ticket has gone unclaimed in Florida.
- The potential winner missed the deadline to claim their winnings after the 180-day period.
- 80% of the unclaimed award will be transferred to the Education Trust Fund.
Someone could be happily wandering around Florida without realizing that they've missed the opportunity to get rich right away.
A lottery participant lost $36 million when he failed to declare his winning ticket before the deadline Florida lottery.
The 180-day claiming period for the August Mega Millions drawing has ended with the deadline of February 11.
the Win a Quick Pick ticket It was purchased at a Publix store in Jacksonville, according to Mega Millions, but was never claimed.
The Quick Pick option allows the machine to randomly select the player's lottery numbers.
A lottery ticket costs $2.
As required by Florida law, 80% of the funds will be transferred to an education trust fund. The remaining 20% will be reserved for the prize pool.
Another Florida lottery ticket went unclaimed in December, when a Florida lottery ticket holder lost $44 million.
To validate the huge cash prize, a participant must visit Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee to authenticate the ticket.
The ticket was purchased in June at a Sunoco gas station in Kissimmee.
Last September, the Powerball jackpot rose to $835 million after multiple drawings did not produce a winner.
In another unfortunate lottery incident, a woman in California accidentally destroyed her winning ticket during the 2021 drawing. The woman was unable to provide “substantial convincing evidence” that she had the winning ticket because she ruined it by placing it in the washing machine next to her sink.
Mega Millions is offered in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands.
Business Insider has reached out to Mega Millions for comment.
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