The clock is ticking on a couple of lottery tickets that are worth nearly $200,000 each but have yet to be claimed after more than two months.
California Lottery officials have few clues to follow in their efforts to track down the winners, with no information other than the locations where the ticketss were sold.
The California Lottery allows 180 days to claim winnings.
State officials said that the first ticket was purchased on April 22 at Colfax Liquor at 11710 Riverside Drive in North Hollywood. The winning numbers were 22, 48, 3, 31, and 54, with 9 for the Mega number. The ticket is worth $176,623, according to state officials.
The second ticket was purchased on April 25 at Astro Liquor at 10000 South Avalon Boulevard in South Los Angeles. The winning numbers were 37, 19, 52, 32 and 45, with 41 for the Mega number. The ticket is worth $184,196, state officials said.
Both of the unclaimed winners were $1 tickets that hit all the numbers except the Mega number.
State officials recently sent out word on the unclaimed tickets, seeking help in reaching a wide audience, since anyone working or visiting the area around either of the stores could have purchased one of them.
State officials said that most Lottery prizes are claimed within days of a winning draw.
An estimated 2% of all winning tickets go unclaimed, however, with $29 million worth of winings left to the state last year.
An estimated 95% of proceeds from lottery ticket sales are returned to the public, according to state officials. They estimate that half of the revenue is used to pay off winning tickets, with 34% going to fund public education, and the balance covering commissions paid to retail locations on some winning tickets, administrative costs, and other expenses.
The state lottery has generated more than $50 billion in ticket sales and sent more than $20 billion to public schools since it first started operations in 1985, according to state officials.
