A woman from California lost a lottery prize worth 26 million dollars after forgetting the ticket in her clothes, which she subsequently washed, as reported by ABC News. The woman had purchased the ticket from a store in Norwalk, Los Angeles, on November 14, but it expired last Thursday after she failed to confirm her ticket purchase.
Store employee Esperanza Hernandez told the Whittier Daily News, as reported by ABC News, that the woman came in on Wednesday and informed the staff that she had put the ticket in her clothes, which got damaged in the wash. The store manager stated that a copy of the surveillance video was given to California lottery officials.
California lottery officials declined to confirm or deny the existence of evidence in the video that verifies the identity of the winner who purchased the ticket. Lottery officials say that a person who believes they have won must fill out a claim form. However, if someone loses a ticket, they must provide proof of ownership, such as a picture of the front and back of the ticket, according to officials. Nevertheless, the surveillance video alone will not be sufficient to verify the purchase of the winning super lottery ticket, they said.
The winning numbers were 23, 36, 12, 31, 13, and the Mega number 10. The prize of 26 million dollars can be taken in annual installments or as a cash option of 19.7 million dollars. If the prize is not claimed, the 19.7 million dollars will go to public schools in California. The store that sold the ticket will receive a bonus of 130 thousand dollars. Notably, four prizes of 20 million dollars or more have gone unclaimed since 1997, including a 63 million dollar prize sold in 2015.
