Unclaimed $110,000 Michigan lottery ticket expires Monday

Jul 28, 2006, 7:05 am (6 comments)

Michigan Lottery

If you play the Michigan lottery and pass through St. Johns, check your glove compartment, your old pants pockets, your dresser drawers.

A Fantasy 5 ticket worth $110,000 expires at 4:45 p.m. Monday.

Find it today and you get $78,210 after taxes.

Find it Tuesday and you get zilch.

The ticket, with numbers 3, 5, 16, 23 and 28, was sold July 29, 2005, at Beck's Country Market gas station, 7525 N. U.S. 27.

"We're telling all our regular players to look through their stuff," manager Becky Caesar said.

In 2005, $17.6 million in lottery prizes went unclaimed, said Lottery spokeswoman Andrea Brancato. Others have been squeakers.

On Jan. 9, a Detroit hospital worker took home $573,815, as a Winfall ticket he bought Jan. 8, 2005 was set to expire. He found the ticket while cleaning out the pockets of a leather jacket he hadn't worn since.

The largest unclaimed prize in the state's history: $34 million in 1997.

Among current unclaimed prizes is a Feb. 17 Mega Millions ticket that matches the first five numbers drawn: 16, 25, 31, 43, 46. It's worth $250,000 and was sold at Speedway in Eagle.

Beck's gets a $2,000 bonus if the missing Fantasy 5 ticket is claimed, but that's not why Caesar would like to see a winner.

"It would be nice to see who bought it, if it was a local person," Caesar said. "It was probably somebody who was traveling, going to the U.P."

Lansing State Journal

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DoubleDown

Bang HeadThud

I always hate to see these stories....

DD

ochoop17

Could the winning ticket be!!!!!!

It's only a fantasy

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

Beck's gets a $2,000 bonus if the missing Fantasy 5 ticket is claimed, but that's not why Caesar would like to see a winner.

 I think vendors should get their bonus even if the winning ticket isn't redeemed! Thumbs Up

bellyache's avatarbellyache

Quote: Originally posted by DoubleDown on Jul 28, 2006

Bang HeadThud

I always hate to see these stories....

DD

I do too. It seems like a waste for a jackpot to go unclaimed.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by bellyache on Jul 28, 2006

I do too. It seems like a waste for a jackpot to go unclaimed.

I used to rant about it all the time, since it is beyond my comprehension why anyone would buy a ticket and not check the numbers right away. I always have to assume the person either died or was in a serious accident.  I realize many people put tickets in their pockets or a glove box in the car, but at least they should check them after a few days. One time someone posted that a family emergency might take priority over a lottery ticket.  After taking that into consideration, I suddenly changed my mind. After all, when wouldn't $110,000 help someone?  I mean, let's say you don't have any family, you suddenly find out you just won a lot of money, have a heart attack and call 911. So if you die the EMT can always use the cash.  It's always a win-win situation.  But letting a winning ticket go unclaimed..positively sinful!

bellyache's avatarbellyache

I agree and believe that every once in a while a winning ticket is won by someone that has died or was in some type of accident, but more often then not, I think either the person lost the ticket or just got lazy and didn't check to see if they won anything. It seems to me that if you are going to spend a dollar or more on a ticket you might as well check to see if you won something.

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