MESA, Ariz. — If you've been searching for a lottery ticket that you bought Apr. 27 at the Safeway near South Alma School and West Guadalupe Roads in Mesa... Sorry, but time's run out.
180 days ago, someone purchased a winning lottery ticket worth $4.3 million from that very store. But no one came to claim the money.
Monday at 5 p.m. was the deadline to claim it, and that cut-off has come and gone.
John Gilliland, Public Information Officer with the Arizona Lottery says it's like watching what someone could have won on a game show.
"We've sold more than $1 billion in tickets in the last physical tickets this year, more than a billion in the previous fiscal year," he said. While unclaimed tickets do happen, it's rare to see one this large go unclaimed.
While half of the winnings will go towards future games, Gilliland says the rest is going to the community.
"It goes to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. It also goes to help support the Victim Rights Fund, so victims of violent crimes have an additional resource that they might not otherwise have," Gilliland explained.
"This unclaimed money gets put to some very good use in Arizona."
The biggest unclaimed prize in Arizona? $14.6 million. The Powerball climbed again on Monday, reaching over $625 million.
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