Unclaimed Lotto man reads, claims $50,000 lottery prize.
After reading an article on his phone about an unclaimed $50,000 Powerball prize Friday, a 69-year-old Ellendale man soon learned he was the winner.
“I was in disbelief,” the man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said about winning the money from the June 13 drawing that went unclaimed for three months, according to Delaware Lottery officials.
The man told officials that he buys a Quick Pick Powerball ticket every Wednesday and Saturday morning at the Royal Farms near Ellendale, where the winning ticket was bought, and saves his tickets.
“I took them (tickets) in to have the cashier check them. She said I was a winner, but joked that the winning amount was too much to tell me right there in the store,” the man said.
He will end up with $38,000 after taxes for matching four white balls and the red Powerball after making his claim Monday. The winning numbers were 13, 20, 38, 45 and 55 with Powerball 01. The odds of winning the $50,000 prize are 1 in 913,129.
The man plans to pay some bills and save some of the winnings. “I’ll also spend some of it on an old car I’ve been fixing up,” he told lottery officials.
Delaware has two other big unclaimed lottery prizes.
A Multi-Win Lotto ticket worth $59,100 was sold for the Dec. 29 drawing at Redner’s Warehouse Market, 25 Greentree Drive, Dover. The winning numbers are 01-03-09-13-31-33.
A Mega Millions ticket worth 10,000 was sold for the Jan. 2 drawing at Shore Stop, 1612 S. Du Pont Highway, Dover. The winning numbers are 01-42-47-64-70 and Mega Ball 22. The Megaplier is 4.
Delaware Lottery winners have one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize. Claims on prizes worth more than $5,000 must be made at the Delaware Lottery Office, 1575 McKee Road, Suite 102, in Dover.
If any of the prizes are not claimed, the money will be returned to the Delaware General Fund.
Earlier this year, a $50,000 Powerball ticket sold for the May 24, 2017, expired before being turned in. It was bought at the Sunoco at the Delaware House Travel Plaza along I-95. The winning numbers for the drawing were 28-32-33-38-62 and Powerball 15.
Delaware has sold 13 $1 million-winning tickets and one $2 million-winning ticket since July 2009. The First State also has sold 10 Powerball Jackpot winning tickets ranging from $9.2 million to $121.6 million since September 1993.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Powerball jackpot was at $163 million for the Wednesday drawing. The Mega Millions jackpot was at $252 million for the Tuesday drawing.
