A winning Powerball ticket sold in Hebron, Indiana, still hasn’t been claimed, and it is expiring soon.
The $50,000 worth of winnings have been in limbo for some time now.
Powerball prize expires soon
The March 7 Powerball drawing made the ticket a winner. $50,000 was the third-highest prize for that drawing.
The winning ticket ended up matching four of the five white balls, as well as the red Powerball. Those winning numbers were 7, 15, 21, 33, 62 and Powerball 23.
Thankfully, the Hoosier Lottery has extended the timeline for claiming prizes.
Usually, winners only have 180 days to claim their lottery prizes, but that number has been bumped up to 240 days because of the pandemic.
That extra time bumps the due date for claiming Hebron’s missing ticket from Sept. 3 to Nov. 2.
Wherever the ticket is, that extra few months could come in handy when it comes to finding it.
After that time period is up, the money will head back into the lottery’s prize fund to pay out future lottery jackpot winners.
Hoosier Lottery officials are urging Indiana residents to check and make sure they don’t have the ticket. That includes looking in cars, purses, pockets, drawers and anywhere else the ticket could have ended up.
Even if the winning ticket is found, its owner will have to jump through some hoops to claim their prize.
New Hoosier Lottery rules
Thanks to the coronavirus, there’s a new set of rules in place for claiming lottery prizes.
If you win between $50,000 and $99,999, you have two different options for claiming your prize.
The first option is to claim the prize by mail.
In order to do that, you’ll need to fill out a claim form on the Hoosier Lottery’s website.
For the mail option, you’ll also need a filled-out IRS form, your government-issued ID, and a copy of both the front and back of the winning ticket.
If the mail-in option isn’t for you, you can also claim your prize in person. At the very least, claiming your prize at a payment office is the quicker option.
You’ll have to call ahead and set up an appointment with the Hoosier Lottery.
Typically, you can just walk into any of the payment offices in Indianapolis, Evansville or Mishawaka, but now calling ahead is a requirement.
If you go with the in-person claiming option, you’ll still need to bring along all of those forms, your ID, and of course, your winning ticket.
With Hebron’s winning ticket still missing, its $50,000 in winnings will be waiting in a separate pile until the deadline passes.
In the meantime, there are drawings taking place every Wednesday and Saturday for the Powerball’s current $22 million jackpot.