Winning $150,000 Powerball Ticket Purchased In Windsor Set To Expire Wednesday
WINDSOR, Colo. (CBS4) – A winning Powerball ticket sold at the Windsor King Soopers in August is scheduled to expire on Wednesday night. The ticket, worth $150,000, must be claimed in a Colorado Lottery office by the end of business on Wednesday or the cash will be given away.
"We are really hoping that player comes forward, or they will lose out on $150,000," said Tom Seaver, Director of the Colorado Lottery.
Powerball rules say the ticket must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing, and because the payout is more than $600 it must be claimed in one of the four Colorado Lottery offices across Colorado during business hours.
Seaver said many times winning tickets either are accidentally destroyed, discarded or disregarded by the owner. Sometimes people accidentally put their tickets through the laundry cycle or throw them away. Others assume they didn't win after hearing the jackpot was hit elsewhere, causing them to throw away the ticket without realizing smaller prizes are available.
"There's a lot of ways to lose a ticket, and unfortunately it does happen sometimes," Seaver said.
In Colorado, the Lottery has had 16 large prizes go unclaimed before. A MegaMillions ticket in 2016 worth $1 million went unclaimed as did a $2 million Powerball ticket in 2013.
While Seaver said the Colorado Lottery always wants the rightful owner to claim their prize, he assured that the money goes to good use by the rest of the state if the prize isn't claimed.
"It doesn't go to waste, the money will go to good causes," Seaver told CBS4's Dillon Thomas. "It would be divided among Great Outdoors Colorado, the Conservation Trust Fund, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and BEST School Development Fund."
CPW's Bridget Kochel said her organization is more than willing to claim their 10% stake of the unclaimed cash if the rightful winner doesn't come forward.
"We are always looking forward to investments that are going to help our state park and wildlife systems," Kochel said.
A portion of ticket sales already goes toward some efforts by CPW, and unclaimed winnings are the cherry on top. Funds from lottery sales in 2020 helped the state purchase Fishers Peak State Park. The money also helps fund efforts at 41 other parks as well as some CPW projects.
"(The money from the lottery) helps improve state trails and expands river greenways. It also helps protect very important wildlife habitat," Kochel said.
While Kochel and Seaver hope the winner will end up claiming their prize in the final 24 hours, both said they were happy to know the money would be used properly if it isn't claimed.
"This money is very important for Colorado and protecting land for future generations," Kochel said.
The winning numbers for the Aug. 1 Powerball drawing are 6-25-36-43-48 PB: 24 PP: 3. For more information visit coloradolottery.com.
