Lottery officials announced Monday that the New Jersey winner of one of the largest Powerball cash prizes in history (a whopping $338 million) has yet to claim his or her prize.
The $338 million ticket was definitely sold at Eagle Liquors in Passaic, New Jersey, but whoever bought it has yet to come forward, said NJ Lottery executive director Carole Hedinger.
“We are waiting for the winner, or winners, to contact us,” she told reporters at a press conference . “Whoever they are should sign the back of that ticket immediately and keep it in a safe place.”
However, Hedinger noted that such a delay is not entirely uncommon.
“Most people take their time, seek professional advice, and wait to know exactly what they’re doing before they come in,” she said.
Saturday’s winning drawing numbers were: 17, 29, 31, 52, 53, 31 . The drawing was for the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history. The winner stands to walk away a multi-millionaire with a net $221 million lump sum payout.
Hedinger also announced that reports that the winning ticket was sold at a Bordentown gas station were false.
“Somebody called the place in Bordentown and claimed to win a ticket, and perhaps somebody jumped to a conclusion,” she said.
In other Powerball news, three friends who made a pact to split the pot if one was lucky enough to win the lottery claimed a $1 million prize in Georgia on Thursday. What’s more, the win was seemingly foretold – by a fortune cookie.
James Scoles, 56, received a good omen from a fortune cookie in Alaska on March 15, the same day friend Kenneth Wilson bought a winning lottery ticket in Georgia.
“It said, ‘You’re going to win the lottery,’” Scoles told lottery officials.
Wilson’s ticket came short of the Powerball number, but he still ended up getting $1 million, which he will split with Scoles and his cousin, Sanford Watson, who lives in Macon.
“I was just as tickled for them as I was for myself ,” Wilson told NBC News . “We just had a verbal agreement and I felt like that had to be honored.”
Wilson waited a week to claim his prize so that Scoles could fly in from Alaska.
“It was a lot of sleepless nights,” Wilson’s wife, Dorothy, recalled. “I never would have thought winning money would have been that stressful.”
Did you win the Powerball this weekend? If so, go claim that $338 million, what are you waiting for?