News writer; Opinion columnist
There's a new millionaire in the state of Connecticut, but their identity is a mystery for now. Someone in the Nutmeg state purchased a winning Lotto! ticket in Southington worth $1.7 million, but they have yet to step forward to claim the big prize.
Jackpot
If you purchased a Connecticut Lotto! ticket in early January, you should double-check if it has the numbers 10, 16, 27, 33, 39, and 42. Those are the winning numbers from the January 12 drawing, but no winner has cashed in the ticket as of this writing.
We do know that the winning ticket was purchased at the Queen Street Exxon in Southington and that the gas station will receive $10,000 for selling the jackpot winner.
Lotto! costs just $1 to play. Players must correctly select six numbers between one and 44 to win the jackpot. Drawings occur twice a week on Tuesday and Friday, and the jackpots are progressive, starting at $1 million and growing until someone claims the prize.
Make the claim
To claim their prize, the winner must go to the Connecticut Lottery office in Wallingford in person. They'll need to provide two valid forms of ID, both of which must be signed and one of which must contain a photo.
They'll have to choose whether they want the annuity option, which means receiving twenty-one annual payments of equal value, totaling $1.7 million, or the one-time cash payout worth $1.2 million.
The Connecticut Lottery claims office is open Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. Winners have just 180 days from the drawing date to take their prize, or the money is returned to the state.
Missing winners
As crazy as it may seem, it's not unusual for large lottery prizes to go unclaimed. Even today, there are several million-dollar jackpots waiting for a lucky winner to step forward.
This month in Kentucky, a winning Powerball ticket worth $1,000,000 sold on July 19 went unclaimed and expired, meaning the winner can no longer collect their prize. Now, the money will go to the state's unclaimed prize fund, where it will be used to support educational scholarships.
As of January 16, the state of Washington had $6.3 million in lottery prizes that are set to expire, including two different seven-figure jackpots. The largest unclaimed prize is for a ticket purchased in Seattle, worth $3.5 million, and the next is for a ticket purchased in Auburn, worth $1 million.
California Lottery officials said that in the fiscal year of 2019-2020, $75.4 million went unclaimed from SuperLotto Plus, Fantasy 5, Daily 3, Daily 4, Daily Derby, and Hot Spot games and that, on average, $46.8 million goes unclaimed every year.
The rule in most states is that winners have 180 days from the time of a drawing to claim their prize. However, there are different rules for what happens to that money if no one cashes in their ticket.
In California, all unclaimed prize money goes toward public education, while in Colorado, it's directed toward preserving the state's natural resources.
