The State : Lotto Prize Sits Unclaimed

It has been nearly two months since someone bought a $1 Lotto ticket in Mariposa worth $326,453. State lottery officials said the ticket, which had five of the six Lotto numbers plus the bonus number drawn on Aug. 12, was sold at the Pioneer Market sometime between Aug. 10 and Aug. 12. If it is not turned in within the next four months, the money will be given to the state’s education fund. George Hahn of the Fresno lottery office said that since the 6/49 Lotto game started in October, 1986, more than $13 million in big jackpots has not been claimed. Of that amount, $8.7 million has already been forfeited and turned over to education. Hahn said the two biggest unclaimed tickets were six-of-six winners--one sold in San Francisco in 1987 worth $3.98 million and the other sold in Hawthorne in 1988 worth $4.7 million.