The winner of a $ 26 million prize from the California Lottery destroyed her chance to become a millionaire.
The winning SuperLotto Plus ticket from the November 14 drawing was sold at an Arco AM / PM store in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk.
Thursday was the last day to redeem it.
Nobody did.
However, the store clerk, Esperanza Hernández, told the Whittier Daily News that a woman walked in on Wednesday and told workers that she had put the ticket in her pants and that it was destroyed in the washing machine.
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The store manager told KTLA-TV that the surveillance video showed the woman who bought the ticket, and that she is known to the store workers.
A copy of the surveillance video was turned over to California Lottery officials, the manager said.
The
claim will be investigated,
added lottery spokeswoman Cathy Johnston.
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The winning numbers were: 23, 36, 12, 31, 13 and the mega number,
10.
The prize of 26 million dollars can be collected in annual installments or in cash for 19.7 million dollars.
If the award is not claimed, the $ 19.7 million will go to California public schools.
The store that sold the ticket will receive a bonus of $ 130,000.
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Lottery officials say that someone who believes they are a winner must fill out a claim form.
But if someone loses a bill, they
must provide proof that they are the owner
, such as a photograph of the front and back of the bill, officials said.
It is unusual for grand prizes to go unclaimed, according to authorities.
Four prizes of $ 20 million or more have not been claimed since 1997, including a prize of $ 63 million from 2015, lottery spokesman Jorge De La Cruz told the Los Angeles Times.
Claim forms are available at the lottery center, on their website, at all lottery district offices, and at any of the more than 23,000 lottery vendors across the state.
With information from AP.