Winners in Fla. and Calif. yet to claim prize in historic Powerball
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Version 0 of 1. No one has come forward in California and Florida to claim their portion of the historic $1.586 billion Powerball lottery drawing that happened in January. Three winning tickets were sold and a couple has come forward to claim their portion of the big prize in Tennessee, but lottery officials said they are waiting to hear from the other two winners. The two remaining winning tickets were sold at a 7-Eleven store in Chino Hills, Calif., and a Publix grocery store in Melbourne Beach, Fla. The deadline varies by state on how long a winner has to come forward to claim the prize. In Florida, the winner has 60 days from the Jan. 13 drawing if the cash option is chosen. And if the winner wants the annuity payment option, the deadline is 180 days from the day of the drawing, according to officials there. California rules allow a Powerball winner to take up to one year from the day of a drawing to claim the prize. [Jubilation as $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot winners reported in 3 states] In announcing winners of other, smaller lotteries, California lottery officials said in a statement earlier this month, “The Chino Hills ticket holder has not come forward yet.” Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The $1.586 billion Powerball winnings are split three ways so each winner receives about $528 million before taxes, according to lottery officials. The Tennessee couple — John and Lisa Robinson — who won part of the biggest lottery in history made their public debut, saying they were among the winners on the “Today” show. They had bought four lottery tickets from a grocery store about one block from their home in Munford, Tenn., they said on national television. The “Today” show article said John worked at a maintenance distribution center and Lisa worked at a dermatologist’s office. Their lawyer, Joe Townsend, said on the show, “I think the American public wants to hear from them, and even though they want to be private after this is over, they want to let the public know that they’re the winners.” CNNMoney said the couple had opted to receive their winnings in a lump sum payment. [Why we still don’t know all the winners of the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot] Lottery officials said it is not uncommon for winners, especially of large jackpots, to wait a few days or even weeks to claim their prize. “It is not unusual for that amount of money for people to want to meet with an attorney or financial adviser before they claim it,” said Connie Barnes, a spokeswoman with the Florida Lottery. “That’s a lot of money to anticipate. They need to think about what they’re going to do with it.” There were several smaller winners from Maryland and Virginia after the historic Powerball win. The winning numbers in the Jan. 13 Powerball lottery were 8-27-34-4-19 and Powerball 10. |