$16 million lottery ticket expires in Florida

$16 million lottery ticket expires in Florida

A $16.6 million cut of a winning Powerball jackpot expired without a claim Thursday night in Florida, the 180-day deadline passing without the lucky ticket holder coming forward.

The ticket was purchased at a Carrollwood Market, a convenience store in Tampa, Fla., in May. When 2, 6, 19, 21, 27 and a Powerball of 25 were drawn on May 25, the holder was entitled to a third of a $50 million jackpot. Two other winners claimed their shares in Delaware and Louisiana.

In a case where a jackpot ticket is not claimed, “the funds to pay a jackpot that goes unclaimed will be returned to the lottery members in their proportion of sales for the jackpot rollover series,” according to the site.

In Florida, current law requires 80 percent of all unclaimed prizes to be transferred to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, a fund that provides educational benefits to the state such as scholarships and school construction projects. The rest of the money goes back to the lottery.

This is not the first time a Powerball jackpot went unclaimed. In 2011, a $77.1 million prize expired after a winning ticket holder in Georgia never came forward.

(source: usnews.nbcnews.com)

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