Check That Lottery Ticket!

Perhaps you were driving along El Camino Real, stopped for gas and got a lottery ticket at the station, put the ticket in your pocket and forgot about it?

Someone seems to have forgotten their ticket, at any rate – and they won more than $200,000. But that money will be poured into California’s public education if the winner doesn’t claim their prize within the next four months, a lottery spokeswoman said.

The unclaimed lottery ticket, purchased two months ago in San Bruno, is worth $226,991, California Lottery spokeswoman Kelly Kell said.

The winner has six months from the purchase date to claim the MEGA Millions ticket before the money is returned to the state, Kell said.

The ticket was purchased at a Shell gas station at 798 El Camino Real.

Officials do not release the specific purchase dates of winning tickets until after the tickets have been claimed, Kell said. The date is one of the questions asked to verify that the person claiming the prize is in fact the winner, she said.

The winning ticket matched five numbers – 15, 22, 23, 48 and 55 – and was only missing the MEGA number, 31. It was drawn Feb. 22.

“There’s a little more life in this ticket. Hopefully we’ll see a win. If not, we’ll see a win for education,” Kell said. 

-- Bay City News