$3.5 Million Lottery Ticket Goes Unclaimed - Now Worthless

[matcom]

<snip>

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The dream of becoming a millionaire could be turning into someone's nightmare.

Connecticut lottery officials said no one has produced the winning ticket for a $3.5 million jackpot in the Feb. 14, 2006, drawing.

The winning ticket expired and is worthless, lottery officials said.

However, officials said if someone mailed it in and it was postmarked before the deadline, it would be honored.

Lottery officials have also rejected nearly 200 lost ticket claims.

Lottery spokeswoman Diane Patterson said the people who had made the claims didn't have such basic facts as where and when the winning ticket was purchased.

But there is one winner in the story of the jackpot that turned into a pumpkin.

The Coventry Getty Mart in Coventry, which sold the winning ticket, is getting a $10,000 bonus.

http://www.wftv.com/money/11071962/detail.html

[BlueIris]

1. The person who won't get that $3.5 mil might actually have saved him/herself

a fat pile of trouble, heartbreak and pain.

Researching the end results of lottery wins has been something of a hobby of mine. Most people wind up saying they wish they'd never won. Also, most people wind up losing not just their winnings, but all of the rest of their money. And a $3.5 million dollar lottery win can wind up looking kinda paltry after taxes, etc., even before the scheming relatives, snake oil salesmen, bad financial decisions, opportunistic charities come into play.