A Florida lottery ticket worth $44 million is unclaimed and set to expire in just a few days
- There's an unclaimed lottery ticket in Florida worth $44 million.
- The winner has just a week left to claim the prize.
- The ticket was purchased on June 14 at a gas station in Kissimmee, Florida.
An unclaimed lottery ticket worth $44 million awaits its winner, who has just a week left to claim the life-changing sum.
Florida Lottery said in a news release that somebody purchased the winning Quick Pick ticket on June 14 from Sunoco Express in Kissimmee, Florida.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.The winning numbers were: 09 - 13 - 15 - 46 - 51 - 52.
The winner has until December 11 — next Monday — to claim the prize. After that, it will be too late.
The Florida Lottery said anyone who purchased a lottery ticket at that specific gas station was "encouraged" to check whether they were the lucky winner.
And because it's such a large prize, the participant would also need to validate the ticket in person at the Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee.
While prizes up to $599 can be claimed at any retailer, those up to $250,000 require a visit to a district office, and anything exceeding that amount necessitates a trip to the Tallahassee headquarters, according to the lottery's guidelines.
This is not the first time that a major lottery win has almost gone unclaimed.
In August 2022, a man in Michigan almost forgot about a ticket he bought and left in his car for weeks. The ticket turned out to be worth $390,000.
And last month, another man in Michigan won more than $400,000 in a lottery he didn't know he'd entered.
Emily Irwin, who works for Wells Fargo and advises lottery winners, told Business Insider in October that many people didn't realize winners are given little support or guidance once they win.
Winners should seek guidance on everything, she said, including whether to take the money as a lump sum or an annuity and learning how to say no to family members seeking to cash in on the windfall.
Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know. Subscribe to push notificationsWatch: How Publishers Clearing House makes $1 billion a year
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonynuM6roJ2ZXaG8tcDEq7BmrJmYuKbAjLCgp2WnpL%2B1tIxta6ZlpaOwra3IppydZaeasqx5y56drWWVrb2qvsSsZGtoYmh6cn4%3D