.jpg "Spurred by the Pandemic, Home Kitchens Become New Restaurant Trend")
The winner of a $26m (£18.5m) lottery prize might have left the ticket in a trouser pocket – and destroyed it in the wash.
Thursday marked the final day to redeem the winning ticket, which was bought at a comfort retailer in a suburb of Los Angeles, and nobody got here ahead.
However Esperanza Hernandez, an worker at the store, advised the native Whittier Every day News a girl had come in the day earlier than and stated she had put the ticket in her trousers and it was ruined in the laundry.
Her declare is being investigated by California Lottery officers, with the retailer’s supervisor telling KTLA-TV that CCTV video confirmed the ladies who bought the ticket. She can also be somebody recognized to employees at the retailer.
The principles say somebody who believes she or he is a winner, should full a declare type.
However Lottery spokeswoman Cathy Johnston stated if somebody has misplaced a ticket, they need to additionally present proof they owned it, equivalent to {a photograph} of the back and front of it.
The $26m prize could be taken in annual instalments or as a $19.7m (£14m) money choice.
If the prize just isn’t claimed, the $19.7m will go to California public faculties.
The shop that bought the ticket will obtain a $130,000 (£92,000) bonus.
It’s unusual for big jackpots to go unclaimed, officers stated.
4 prizes of $20m (£14.2m) or extra have gone unclaimed since 1997, together with a $63m (£45m) jackpot from 2015, lottery spokesman Jorge De La Cruz advised the Los Angeles Occasions.
