Mega Millions $2.9M Jackpot Won in December Unclaimed in California

The most likely explanation? The person is none the wiser they had won. The California Lottery has warned that the jackpot will be forfeited in a matter of days unless the ticket owner steps up to claim it.

Final Call for $2.9M Lottery Mystery Winner in California

This type of public call to action is less about the actual likelihood of the mysterious winner showing up and more about the lottery operator’s public exoneration, demonstrating that they have made every effort to release the jackpot to the rightful winner.

The California Lottery is not clueless as to where the winner is located. A person purchased the ticket at the SK Gas Station at 11280 National Blvd in Los Angeles, the lottery said on Wednesday, June 5.

The person missed the Mega Ball of 3, but hit the other winning numbers, to wit 8, 23, 44, 45, and 53. The cut-off period is today, 5 pm, which means that there are only hours before the person can try and claim their prize.

The more likely outcome, however, is that they would not. The amount of unclaimed jackpot prizes from the lottery in the United States is huge. This has to do with a culture that trivializes the purchase of lottery tickets as much as it pins hopes for a better life on a jackpot payout.

Trivializing the Lottery Means Missing Out on Winnings

Yet, it’s not uncommon for people who have played the lottery for a very long time to actually forget that they had the ticket, or to just have misplaced it because it has become an everyday thing in their lives. The vendors cannot do anything about that as all wins are anonymous until a winner steps forward and reveals a verifiable ticket.

This way, the winners’ identity and funds are protected. It also creates the issue of people who forget about their tickets and never retrieve their jackpot wins. Earlier this year, $36 million in jackpots went unclaimed in Florida.

Another $50 million was never claimed in California across multiple lotteries, including the Powerball, Mega Millions, and Super Lotto Plus. If anything, people may be advised to start paying closer attention to where they put their tickets and not so much on what numbers might win next.