If you purchased a California lottery ticket at a 7-Eleven in Chatsworth, California, in August, you could be forfeiting a fortune.
Somebody purchased a California Super LottoPlus ticket at the store on August 8, CNN affiliate KTLA and The Los Angeles Times say. But nobody has shown up to claim the prize, despite lottery officials’ public call in November.
The ticket holder must show up at a state lottery office by 5 p.m. Thursday or the money will be forfeited.
Some of the 7-Eleven customers were dumbfounded by the story.
“Here in the area, there’s a lot of homeless, so it could have been somebody that just purchased it with their only lucky dollar, and to know that they lost it, it’s upsetting,” Mary Falcon told KTLA.
“I think it sucks for whoever is missing out on $63 million,” added Ali Paul.
Not everyone will be a loser. If the money isn’t claimed in time, the jackpot will go to California public schools, the station says.
And one person will make out regardless: the owner of the 7-Eleven, who stands to earn $315,000 for selling the ticket.
The winning numbers? 46-1-33-30-16, with a Mega number of 24.
But lottery officials aren’t hopeful.
“At this point, the odds are slim of anybody coming forward,” lottery spokesman Alex Traverso told the L.A. Times.
Incidentally, it’s not the only recent jackpot that’s gone unclaimed in California. That $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot in January? One of the winning tickets was bought in Chino Hills, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.
That ticket holder has yet to come forward either, officials told the Times.
