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Nov 2, 2009 2:05 pm US/Eastern
Millions In Lottery Winnings Often Left Unclaimed
A $58 Thousand Fantasy 5 Ticket Expires Monday Night
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
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Logo for the Florida Lottery on background
CBS
Imagine winning big at the state's lottery game. Now, imagine stashing the ticket somewhere and forgetting to check the number. It seems someone in Florida has done just that, and now, they stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars unless they claim their prize by Monday.
The Florida Lottery said Friday that a Fantasy 5 ticket worth $58,121 was purchased May 6th at the Kangaroo Express in Ormond Beach. No winner has come forward, and under Florida law, lotto game tickets like Fantasy 5 expire 6 months after the winning number is selected. That means the winner has until midnight Monday to claim the prize.
If the ticket is not claimed by then, the money goes back to the state and the winner is out of luck.
Unclaimed tickets are nothing new. Since the Florida Lotto was introduced in 1988, numerous tickets have gone unclaimed including a $50 million ticket sold in North Bay Village in 2003. It has added up to more than a quarter of a billion dollars -- or $364 million. Unclaimed Fantasy 5 tickets have allowed the state to keep an extra $13.5 million into its coffers.
If you have a Fantasy 5 ticket, now might be a good time to check the numbers, especially if you passed through Ormond Beach and picked up a lottery ticket with your soda at a convenience store. To check winning numbers of past lottery results,
click here.
The winning numbers for that drawing were 5, 16, 24, 29 and 33.
State lottery officials urge people to check numbers immediately after the drawing and redeem their tickets quickly to avoid the disappointment, and the financial loss, of having a big winner expire.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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