News writer
Since December 2023, we have wondered who won $2.9 million playing the Mega Millions in California, and now, we may never find out!
Winning ticket expires in hours
The winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased from the SK gas station, located at 11280 National Boulevard in Los Angeles. The winning ticket was purchased for the December 12, 2023, drawing and matched the five white ball numbers but missed out on the Mega Ball number.
The winning white ball numbers for that drawing were 8, 23, 44, 45, and 53, and the Mega Ball number was 3.
The winning ticket matched all five of the white ball numbers to win $2.9 million. State laws in California require any major payoffs in lottery games to be paid on a pari-mutuel basis. This means that the payouts are determined by sales and the number of winners, which is how the $2.9 million dollar prize was determined.
California Lottery rules state that any Mega Millions winners with five numbers have 180 days from the draw date to claim their winnings. That means this lucky winner has until 5 p.m. PT on Friday, June 7, to claim their winnings.
Check those tickets
Since time is running out to claim the prize, the California Lottery is urging all players to double-check any Mega Millions tickets they might have lying around the house as soon as possible.
If you do happen to have the winning ticket, you must visit one of the California State Lottery's nine offices by the deadline to claim your prize. Otherwise, the ticket is no longer valid.
How to claim your prize
If you are the lucky winner and have been holding out on collecting your winnings, here are the options available to you to claim your winnings. You can go to one of the nine offices across the state by 5 p.m. PT on June 7.
You can also fill out a claim form, which you can download from our California Lottery page, and mail it out with the signed winning ticket, which must be postmarked on or before Saturday, June 8, to qualify. The claim forms are also available at all Lottery offices, as well as at any of the more than 23,000 California Lottery retail partners throughout the state.
You will need the signed claim form and the winning ticket to claim in person or through mail. To claim through the mail, send your completed documents to California Lottery Headquarters, 730 North 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95811.
Unclaimed prizes
If no one claims the $2.9 million prize, that money will go to public schools in California.
Since ticket sales first went on sale in California in 1985, the Lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion just in unclaimed prizes. The California Lottery exists solely to generate extra money for public education. During the latest Mega Millions jackpot run, which saw someone from Illinois win the $552 million jackpot on June 4, the California Lottery earned an estimated $42.8 million for public education from ticket sales.
Enjoy playing the California Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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