Back in March 2024, a New Jersey lottery player from Neptune bought a ticket at the ShopRite Liquor location, and ended up winning the fifth-biggest Mega Millions prize of all time worth $1.128 billion dollars.
The massive victory was surely the biggest of the player’s life, but over six months after the numbers was drawn, the prize still remains uncollected. The lucky winner simply hasn’t shown up just yet, and it remains to be seen if they will.
Whether the ticket has been thrown away, the player is looking over their legal options as to claiming the money, or another reason prevented them from picking up the life-changing jackpot is still a mystery. One thing that is clear is that the clock is ticking, and there is only a limited amount of time they have to claim the money before it goes back in the system.
How Long Can the Winner Wait?
According to the provisions of the Mega Millions, the jackpot winner has exactly one year since the day the ticket is purchased to show up and claim the reward.
The one year is now just over half-way past, and the lucky winner still hasn’t come forth, prompting both regular folks, and the people at the Lottery to wonder what’s happening.
James Carrey, the Executive Director of the NJ Lottery told ABC New York: “It is unusual that a player has not collected a prize of this size, and hasn’t even contacted us. So, we just want to put the word out there that a prize has not been claimed, we have not heard from the player.”
The NJ Lottery is actively looking for the lottery winner, while folks across Neptune are surely trying to find any old lottery tickets they may have lost or forgotten about.
While most speculate the ticket has been lost by the person that bought it, there are other potential explanations as well.
The player may have sought legal help with the entire process, and may be looking into his options as to how to receive the money, where to invest it, and how to distribute the funds.
After all, it’s not every day that a person becomes a billionaire, and it would not be too farfetched to assume they are doing their due diligence, knowing that they have the legal right to claim the money within a year.
What Happens is the Money is Not Claimed?
The big question is, what happens to the jackpot money if left unclaimed by the winner? Of course, there is an answer to that question, as such a scenario was always possible.
According to the lottery provisions, the entire fund would be redistributed back to the various state lotteries from which it came.
The calculations would be made as to how much of the funds came from each state, and they would be sent back to where they came from.
Each state lottery would then be allowed to use the funds as it sees fit. In the case of New Jersey Lottery, the funds would probably go towards the state’s pensions for public employees, as these pensions are the main benefactor of the Lottery’s proceeds in all other cases.
Yet, nothing will happen until March 26, which is the final day the Mega Millions winner can come forward and claim their reward before it is voided and the huge wealth lost forever to its would-be claimant.