A California man could have won $1.1 million from the Powerball lottery, but he lost his ticket.
The man won the September 13 Powerball but did not immediately come forward to identify himself. The state lottery launched a campaign to find the winner, releasing photos of him once they matched the date and time stamp of the sale to video surveillance footage.
California winners have six months to claim their prize, so as Thursday’s deadline loomed, the man finally reported to the lottery office after seeing his face plastered all over the news. He was empty-handed; he had lost the ticket and could not find it.
The $1.1 million will be donated to California schools, as does all unclaimed lottery money. The schools have received around $800 million from unclaimed lottery money.
Although $1.1 million is a lot to lose, it is not the highest amount to go unclaimed by a long shot. That record goes to a $28.5 million jackpot in 2003.