Check Your Numbers: Big Minnesota Lottery Prizes Remain Unclaimed

Every five or six months, I throw my $20 into the office lottery pool. We buy all the numbers games and play the same numbers for every pull the Minnesota Lottery offers. We win a few dollars here and there and plow the money back into buying more lottery tickets down the road.

But we haven't hit the big money -- yet.

We know it can happen (looking at you Holdingford Lunch Ladies who won $95.4-million dollars playing Powerball in 2003).

It just hasn't happened to us -- yet.

So when the Minnesota Lottery posted this week that two big winners have yet to come forward to claim their prizes in a huge drawing, that got my attention.

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According to the Lottery, two $1,000,000 prizes drawn on New Year's Day STILL haven't been claimed in the Minnesota Millionaire Raffle.

That's the annual drawing where the Lottery makes 800,000 tickets available and sells them for $10 each. Then they draw for a bunch of prizes, including two $1,000,000 grand prizes. It's super popular -- the tickets for that drawing sold out in something like three weeks.

One big million-dollar winner was sold at the Coborn's store in Delano. The other -- at the Kwik Trip store in Dundas in southern Minnesota.

Neither has been claimed.

"If know anyone who bought a ticket in Delano or Dundas, tell them to check their tickets! This is the longest a million dollar prize has gone unclaimed EVER for Raffle," according to the Lottery's Facebook post.

My office pool -- unfortunately -- did not buy tickets in Delano or Dundas, but some Facebook posters did.

Some thought the winners may have inadvertantly thrown out their tickets with the Christmas wrapping paper or the tickets were lost in the washing machine.

"I had all mine together in the same spot I've been putting them for years. I buy 5 every year. Haven't won jack. I would have had mine claimed and got me the new car I need. I call for a new drawing. New tickets. Redo!!" -- Amanda Christen

In fact, several commenters suggested the Minnesota Lottery roll-those unclaimed prizes into the next Raffle drawing.

But it's a bit premature to be thinking like that.

Whoever has the winning tickets has some time to claim their cash. According to the Lottery, they have until December 31st, 2024 to claim their prizes.

But for now, the reasons why the big winners haven't come forward remain mysteries.

Or maybe Facebook commenter David Rosvold has the answer: "They're waiting on their divorce!"