THE REWARD EXPIRES. SO GOOD LUCK. IT’S TIME TO CHECK YOUR TICKETS. $1 MILLION WINNER WAS SOLD HERE IN AMES IN SEPTEMBER AND STILL HASN’T BEEN CLAIMED. EVERYBODY HAS AN IDEA OF WHAT THEY WOULD DO IF THEY PICKED THE LUCKY NUMBERS AND WON THE LOTTERY. I’D MOVE TO HAWAII. I JUST LIVED THERE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE BY MY PARENTS, A DREAM HOUSE AND JUST KIND OF SPIN IT ON. THEN, SINCE I’VE DONE SO MUCH FOR ME, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE COULD HAVE THAT DREAM COME TRUE. BUT THEY’RE FORGETTING ONE CRUCIAL STEP TURNING IN THE MILLION DOLLAR WINNING TICKET SOLD HERE AT THE FILLING STATION IN AMES LAST SEPTEMBER. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? WOW. JEANETTE MESSENGER HAS WORKED HERE FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS AND HAS NEVER SEEN A TICKET WIN THAT MUCH MONEY. SHE SPECULATES THE MEGA MILLIONS TICKET MAY HAVE BEEN SOLD DURING THE WEEKEND OF THE FIRST IOWA STATE FOOTBALL GAME OF THE SEASON. TO AND OUT OF TOWNER. JEANETTE JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, HAS A THEORY JUST WONDERING IF SOMEBODY JUST LOST IT OR PUT IT AWAY SOMEWHERE AND DIDN’T KNOW THEY HAD WON. MAYBE BECAUSE SO MAYBE SOMEONE LIKE SOMEONE LOST IT. PEOPLE LIKE JUST THROW THEM IN THEIR WALLET AND DON’T EVER CHECK THEM. THERE’S MORE AND MORE TIME PASSES. WE JUST WORRY THAT IT’S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. MARY NEUBAUER WITH THE IOWA LOTTERY SAYS THE LUCKY TICKET HOLDER HAS UNTIL SEPTEMBER SIX, 2023, TO CLAIM THE 1 MILLION BIG ONES. RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE THREE OTHER BIG PRIZES UNCLAIMED IN THE STATE, ALL MORE THAN SIX FIGURES. I MEAN, DID SOMEBODY LOSE IT? DID IT GET THROWN AWAY? DID IT GET PUT THROUGH THE WASH? I MEAN, THERE ARE JUST SO MANY THINGS THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED BY NOW. NEUBAUER SAYS PRIZES EXPIRE ALL THE TIME, BUT USUALLY IN SMALL AMOUNTS, POOLING TOGETHER FOR ABOUT 1.2 TO $1.8 MILLION EACH YEAR. THAT MONEY ROLLS INTO ANOTHER PRIZE POOL ONCE IT EXPIRES, SHE SAYS 97% OF WINNERS COME IN TO CLAIM THEIR PRIZES WITHIN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS. AND RIGHT NOW THERE’S ONLY FOUR MONTHS TO GO UNTIL THAT BIG TICKET COMES IN VALID. IF YOU HAVE A MEGA MILLIONS TICKET AT HOME, PLEASE, PLEASE GET IT OUT AND CHECK IT BECAUSE THERE COULD BE SOME REALLY GOOD NEWS COMING YOUR WAY. BEAU BOWMAN KCCI EIGHT NEWS. IOWA’S NEWS LEADER. WELL, IF YOU STILL HAVE THOSE OLD MEGA MILLIONS TICKETS LAYING AROUND, YOU MAY WANT TO GIVE IT A SECOND LOOK. THE WINNING NUMBERS FROM THAT DRAWING WERE 617 46, 59 AND 68. YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE IOWA LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS I
What happens to unclaimed lottery tickets in Iowa?
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Updated: 1:01 PM CDT Apr 28, 2023
A winning lottery ticket sold in Iowa only has four months to be turned in before that it becomes invalid. The winning ticket, worth $1 million, was a Mega Millions ticket sold at the Filling Station in Ames in September 2022.Jenette Mesecher, who has worked at the Filling Station for more than 30 years, has never seen a ticket win that much money. She speculates the million-dollar ticket may have been sold during the weekend of the first Iowa State football game of the season last year to an out-of-towner."Just wondering if somebody just lost it or put it away somewhere and didn't know they had one," Mesecher said. "As more and more time passes, we just worry that it's never going to happen," Iowa Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer said.Neubauer said the winner has until Sept. 6 to claim their prize.Right now, there are four unclaimed prizes worth more than $100,000, including the million-dollar winner. Neubauer said prizes expire all the time, but usually in small amounts, pooling together for about $1.2 million to $1.8 million each year. She said expired prizes roll into another prize pool.She said 97% of winners come in to claim their prizes within the first six months. And right now, there are only four months to go until that big-ticket becomes invalid."If you have a Mega Millions ticket at home, please, please get it out and check it because there could be some very good news coming your way," Neubauer said. Iowa's largest unclaimed prizesThree other six-figure prizes won on lottery tickets purchased in Iowa are unclaimed as of April 28, 2023:A Powerball ticket that won $150,000 in the Oct. 29, 2022, drawing was purchased at Floyd Food & Fuel in Sioux City. It expires Oct. 30, 2023.A Powerball ticket that won $150,000 in the Nov. 5, 2022, drawing was purchased at a Hy-Vee convenience store in Sheldon. It expires on Nov. 6, 2023.A Powerball ticket that won $100,000 in the Nov. 7, 2022, drawing was purchased at a Casey's store in Dubuque. It expires Nov. 7, 2023.Iowa's biggest lottery jackpot winners2018: Lerynne West of Redfield, $343.9 million Powerball2012: The Shipping 20 (coworkers at Cedar Rapids Quaker Oats plant), $241 million Powerball2012: Brian and Mary Lohse of Bondurant, $202.1 million Powerball2006: Tim and Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge, $200.8 million Powerball2006: Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines, $113.2 million Powerball
AMES, Iowa — A winning lottery ticket sold in Iowa only has four months to be turned in before that it becomes invalid.
The winning ticket, worth $1 million, was a Mega Millions ticket sold at the Filling Station in Ames in September 2022.
Jenette Mesecher, who has worked at the Filling Station for more than 30 years, has never seen a ticket win that much money. She speculates the million-dollar ticket may have been sold during the weekend of the first Iowa State football game of the season last year to an out-of-towner.
"Just wondering if somebody just lost it or put it away somewhere and didn't know they had one," Mesecher said.
"As more and more time passes, we just worry that it's never going to happen," Iowa Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer said.
Neubauer said the winner has until Sept. 6 to claim their prize.
Right now, there are four unclaimed prizes worth more than $100,000, including the million-dollar winner.
Neubauer said prizes expire all the time, but usually in small amounts, pooling together for about $1.2 million to $1.8 million each year. She said expired prizes roll into another prize pool.
She said 97% of winners come in to claim their prizes within the first six months. And right now, there are only four months to go until that big-ticket becomes invalid.
"If you have a Mega Millions ticket at home, please, please get it out and check it because there could be some very good news coming your way," Neubauer said.
Iowa's largest unclaimed prizes
Three other six-figure prizes won on lottery tickets purchased in Iowa are unclaimed as of April 28, 2023:
- A Powerball ticket that won $150,000 in the Oct. 29, 2022, drawing was purchased at Floyd Food & Fuel in Sioux City. It expires Oct. 30, 2023.
- A Powerball ticket that won $150,000 in the Nov. 5, 2022, drawing was purchased at a Hy-Vee convenience store in Sheldon. It expires on Nov. 6, 2023.
- A Powerball ticket that won $100,000 in the Nov. 7, 2022, drawing was purchased at a Casey's store in Dubuque. It expires Nov. 7, 2023.
Iowa's biggest lottery jackpot winners
- 2018: Lerynne West of Redfield, $343.9 million Powerball
- 2012: The Shipping 20 (coworkers at Cedar Rapids Quaker Oats plant), $241 million Powerball
- 2012: Brian and Mary Lohse of Bondurant, $202.1 million Powerball
- 2006: Tim and Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge, $200.8 million Powerball
- 2006: Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines, $113.2 million Powerball
