Unclaimed $1.5B jackpot mystery: Winner died? Ticket lost?

[left-of-center2012]

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. -- Nearly everyone in this small South Carolina town has a theory for the city’s billion-dollar mystery: Who won the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot announced last October?

Maybe the winner was so overwhelmed upon seeing the winning numbers that she or he died on the spot? Maybe the winner is on the run from police and fears a background check? Maybe that winning ticket fell from a car visor, ended up in a trash can and is forever buried at the Twin Chimneys Landfill. Or maybe, the winner is still going on with life as usual, before quietly taking the $878 million lump sum.

With less than two months to go, the clock is ticking. Whoever won the second largest lottery in U.S. history has until 5 p.m. on April 19 to walk into the South Carolina Lottery office in Columbia with the signed ticket and claim the jackpot.

The winning ticket was sold at the KC Mart in Simpsonville sometime between Oct. 20 and the drawing at 11 p.m. on Oct. 23. Store employee Jee Patel said State Law Enforcement Division agents were waiting in the parking lot when workers came to open at 6 a.m. the next day. “We didn’t even know we sold the winner yet,” Patel said, adding agents immediately took the surveillance tapes away. “We haven’t seen them. I don’t know when we sold it or who we sold it to.”

https://www.apnews.com/978c6fa2453d44719d958bf7b1fc277b

[roamer65]

1. Why do state law enforcement need the tapes?

Something sounds fishy on this one. Was the person killed so the states can pocket the money?

[LisaL]

4. I don't know if that is a normal practice or not, but presumably

the tapes will help to verify that the person who comes forward (if that person comes forward) is indeed the one who bought that ticket.

[roamer65]

7. Never heard of it happening before plus this is SC.

There needs to be an independent investigation.

[TeamPooka]

29. it's a standard operating procedure for most big lottery wins to prevent crime and fraud.

[scarytomcat]

17. the state wants the winner to show up so they get the tax revenue

if it is unclaimed, money goes back to the lotto

[crazycatlady]

22. I think the store also gets a bonus if they sell a winning ticket

[A HERETIC I AM]

37. It goes back to the states

Unclaimed jackpots are distributed back to
The participating states and is then allocated according to the various state laws

https://www.powerball.com/faqs

What happens to unclaimed prizes?
Unclaimed prizes are kept by the lottery jurisdiction. If a Grand Prize goes unclaimed, the money must be returned to all lotteries in proportion to their sales for the draw run. The lotteries then distribute the money, based on their own jurisdiction's laws, to other lottery games or to their jurisdiction's general fund, or otherwise as required by law.

[fescuerescue]

23. Second largest win in history

I would think it merits some scrutiny.

[Codeine]

31. It's standard.

My old store sold a much smaller winner (a bit over $2M) and our surveillance footage was immediately requested by state lottery folks.

[smirkymonkey]

2. What a waste!

Sounds like a "Waking Ned Devine" kind of situation, except the townspeople aren't in on it.

[Sneederbunk]

3. A cynic could believe the ticket was never sold.

The Mart was picked as a dummy sales spot. The 1.5 Billion was to be kept by the government. The pot got too big.

[angrychair]

6. [phone]

I agree

[Progressive Jones]

8. The pot got too big?

The 'pot" is the money from those tickets being sold. It's not like it comes from the treasury.

[Sneederbunk]

9. It's gambling. No chance of anything untoward happening here.

The government (the house) wanted the money. It would be easy enough to publish photo of suspected purchaser. It appears the government did nothing to locate "winner" but sat on tapes instead.

[cbdo2007]

10. That is absolutely what I think

As soon as I heard that the pot goes back to the States if it goes unclaimed.

[Blue_true]

13. Are you serious? nt

[FakeNoose]

15. Yep

"The house always wins"

The ones who were in on it called a Lottery number that hadn't been purchased anywhere. Then they confiscated the video tape from the retailers before they could view it themselves. Proof disappears and so does the "winner."

[Sneederbunk]

16. Bingo!

[Codeine]

32. MegaMillions is a multi-state lottery.

I don’t think the other states involved would react well to that.

[Sneederbunk]

35. The other states benefit from an unclaimed prize.

[Midnightwalk]

5. Ummmm

That would put me in a higher tax bracket and screw the government.

[Generic Brad]

11. Sometimes people accidentally throw away their tickets

I’ve done it in a few occasions.

[Blue_true]

14. The lump sum has to be collected within 30 or 60 days, don't remember which.

Only the annuity can be collected now. Since that is $50 million dollars per year before taxes, defaulting to that is a reasonably wise move.

I don't know why the winner has not come forward. The person could have misplaced the ticket (slipped between the car seat and hid itself), could have died or is busy with other affairs and simply has not checked the ticket. I know one thing, given the size of the winnings, waiting won't bring that person less notice, even if a larger prize is won within the next two months.

[Lancero]

30. That makes me wonder...

If Grandma/Grandpa passed away before the draw, would the lottery ticket (if found) still be claimable by his inheritors?

[W_HAMILTON]

33. If I remember correctly...

...lottery tickets are bearer instruments, which means they are "negotiable instrument(s) payable to its holder, on demand or presentment, regardless of to whom it was issued originally." This means that whoever presents the ticket is entitled to its winnings -- NOT (necessarily) the person that bought the ticket in the first place.

[Blue_true]

34. Good question.

Say a grandparent or parent passed away and the kids find the ticket while cleaning up the drceased's home. Several things could happen. First one of them sign it and take it to the lottery to cash it in, only to be told that the time on the store video showed that it was an elderly person that bought the winning ticket. Or they could leave the ticket unsigned, get an ethical attorney and a reporter, along with the deceased's death warrant and proof of their relationship to the dead person, then go to the lottery and see what happens. Just some ideals, I really don't know what would happen, maybe the state says tough luck and keeps the money.

[Petosky Stone]

18. They'll show up at the last minute.

Just getting their ducks in a row.

(Unlike, I guess, the "typical" winner, that jumps in, blows most of it in short order, and is soon found dead from excess debauchery.)

[TheBlackAdder]

19. Wow! What kind of buggers set a 6 month ticket expiry, instead of a traditional year, like NY & NJ?

[EarthFirst]

20. Is SC an anonymous claim state?

Are the owner(s) required to be publicly paraded in spectacular fashion by lottery officials for publicity reasons?

Could a lawyer be working quietly to set up a reasonable LLC / estate trust to claim the proceeds to allow the claimant to remain anonymous?

A case similar to this just transpired in New York where 23 co-workers wanted to remain anonymous on a $423 million winning ticket by doing such.

I’d want to remain an anonymous claimant in such a situation...

[Awsi Dooger]

21. Scary amount of conspiracy nonsense in this thread

No thank you. Lotteries benefit the house and a small random group of winners. Tickets are occasionally lost or unintentionally discarded. No reason it wouldn't happen at some point to a huge prize. More likely, the winner has been strategizing tax implications with a professional and will come forward at a late date.

[left-of-center2012]

25. Scary amount of conspiracy nonsense in this thread

Is there a full moon?

[obnoxiousdrunk]

27. We have our own

Infowars.

[jberryhill]

28. Amen

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. It's possib the ticket holder has been advised to wait till April 16th

There could be some tax strategies involved in waiting till then.

I thought they were waiting till after January 1st for the same reason

Or the ticket got lost. Wouldn’t be the first time.

[stonecutter357]

26. Winner died? Ticket lost? No it's me I just don't need it !

[Sneederbunk]

36. Will store owner ever get surveillance tapes back?

[SoCalDem]

38. People lose track of tickets and never have them long enough to check the numbers

[DeminPennswoods]

39. Yep

If I see a lottery ticket laying on the ground, I check it before tossing it in the nearest trash can, because you never know...

[oasis]

40. For a much publicized lottery prize of that size, a ticket wouldn't get

the usual treatment by purchasers. The winner is probably living comfortably on advanced credit funding he/she recieved from a large bank.