A $14.6million lottery jackpot will never be enjoyed by its winner after they failed to come forward in time to claim it.
The winning ticket for the enormous sum was sold in Goodyear, Arizona, on June 2 this year.
But no-one came forward to claim the prize before the six month time limit, with this ticket expiring on December 2 at 5pm.
It is now the biggest ever prize to go unclaimed in Arizona.
Arizona Lottery Director Gregg Edgar told CNN: ‘There is nothing more exciting for Arizona Lottery than to award a large jackpot, like this $14.6 million prize, so we are always a little sad when we see one of these prizes expire unclaimed.’
His colleague John Gilliland explained that any prize of $600 or more must be claimed at one of the Arizona Lottery’s offices.
The biggest ever unclaimed win was an enormous $77million jackpot on a ticket bought in Georgia in 2017.
Arizona’s previous biggest missed jackpot was a $4million win won back in 1999.
Up until Tuesday, the state had seen $11.6million of prizes go unclaimed during 2019.
In 2017, a total of $2.89billion worth of lottery wins went unclaimed across the United States.
Individual states decide what happens to that unclaimed cash.
Arizona donates around 30% to Court Appointed Special Advocates, a program which sees volunteers appointed to speak on behalf of abused children in court.
Another $250,000 is given to a program encouraging Native American students to go into higher education, with $835,000 donated to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which helps track down online child abusers.
The remainder of the cash funds other draws, and second-chance draws.
Edgar added: ‘These dollars will be utilized now to enhance our player’s experiences with future games and fund a variety of beneficiaries that have tremendous impact for our community.’
Share this with