Unclaimed Mega Millions and Powerball Jackpots by Accident or by Design

Summary: Since 2002, there have been five unclaimed Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots. Are they unclaimed by accident or by design?

A lottery jackpot question: spaztacular, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Since 2002, five jackpots in America's two multi-jurisdictional lottery games have gone unclaimed.

Three Mega Millions jackpots have gone unclaimed. Two Powerball jackpots have gone unclaimed.

Mega Millions' three unclaimed jackpots occurred between 2002 and 2006. The winning tickets for all three unclaimed jackpots were purchased in New York.

The only winning ticket for the drawing Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2002, for a jackpot of $68 million was purchased at Kings Plaza Newsstand, located at 5100 Kings Plaza in Brooklyn, New York.

The only winning ticket for the drawing April 25, 2003, for a jackpot of $46 million was purchased at A to Z Grocery and Variety, located at 687 Broadway in Brooklyn, New York.

The only winning ticket for the drawing Aug. 1, 2006, for a jackpot of $31 million was purchased at Astoria Smokeshop and Convenience, located at 42-16 30th Avenue in Astoria, New York.

Powerball's two unclaimed jackpots occurred between 2011 and 2013.

The only winning ticket for the drawing June 29, 2011, for a jackpot of $77.1 million was purchased at Pilot Travel Center, 882 Georgia Highway 100 in Tallapoosa, Georgia.

Of three winning tickets purchased for the drawing on May 25, 2013, for a jackpot of $50 million, only one, bought at Carrollwood Market, located at 4550 West Village Drive in Tampa, Florida, went unclaimed. The other two winning tickets for the May 25, 2013, Powerball jackpot, purchased in Delaware and in Louisiana, were presented, garnering for their ticket holders one-third split apiece.

The winning numbers for the unclaimed Mega Millions ticket did not share commonalities as a trio, but the number 32 was drawn in two of the drawings. Number 43 was drawn in two.

December 24, 2002, drawing: 8 - 24 - 39 - 43 - 52 MB: 43

April 25, 2003, drawing: 1 - 12 - 32 - 48 - 51 MB: 29

August 1, 2006, drawing: 14 - 29 - 32 - 43 - 49 MB: 14

The winning numbers for the unclaimed Powerball tickets were as follows.

June 29, 2011, drawing: 2 - 6 - 19 -21 - 27 PB: 25

May 25, 2013, drawing: 24 - 30 - 45 - 57 - 59 PB: 26

The deadline for claiming jackpots varies according to state. New York requires Mega Millions jackpot winners to claim their winnings within one year of the date of the drawing. Florida requires Powerball jackpot winners to claim their winnings within 60 days of the date of the drawing. Georgia requires Powerball jackpot winners to claim their winnings within 180 days of the date of the drawing.

Jackpots, however, are not the only unclaimed lottery prizes. In 2013, the unclaimed third of the $50 million Powerball jackpot represented less than 1 percent of the total of $2.04 billion in unclaimed lottery winnings for prizes of $1.00 and up.

How does it happen that a prize goes unclaimed?

Perhaps some tickets are accidentally misplaced and possibly found after the deadline. Perhaps some tickets are never found, having been tossed into the trash. Perhaps some tickets are intentionally unclaimed.

No one has come forward to bemoan their missed chance at the jackpot lifestyle, so the real reasons comprise part of life's unsolved mysteries.

CNNMoney @CNNMoney via Twitter Nov. 3, 2014

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"The odds of winning the lottery jackpot is 1 in 14 million - Do you feel lucky?": spaztacular, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/spaztacular/2763835372/

"Unclaimed #lottery prizes: $2 billion a year.": CNNMoney @CNNMoney via Twitter Nov. 3, 2014, @ https://twitter.com/CNNMoney/status/529210281730531328

For further information:

"5 Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots still unclaimed." Lottery Post > Forums > Lottery News. July 7, 2013.
Available @ https://www.lotterypost.com/news/263351

CNNMoney @CNNMoney. "Unclaimed #lottery prizes: $2 billion a year." Twitter. Nov. 3, 2014, @ https://twitter.com/CNNMoney/status/529210281730531328

Isidore, Chris. "Unclaimed lottery prizes: $2 billion a year." CNN Money > Tech. Nov. 2, 2014.
Available @ http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/02/technology/mobile/2-billion-unclaimed-lottery-prizes/index.html