A lottery player in France has missed out on an astonishing €13 million ($15 million+) jackpot after failing to claim the prize before the deadline expired.
The winning Super Loto ticket, purchased in France's Orne region, matched all the required numbers from the April 24 drawing. Despite weeks of public appeals and reminders, the winner never came forward before the 60-day claim period ended.
What happened?
- The ticket was worth €13 million.
- Officials launched multiple media campaigns to locate the winner.
- Announcements were even made during televised lottery broadcasts.
- The deadline passed, and the prize was officially forfeited.
Lottery operator FDJ described the case as an exceptional and historic situation, calling it the largest unclaimed prize in the company's history. The previous record for an unclaimed jackpot was €8 million back in 2011.
To make matters worse, officials knew which store sold the winning ticket but were unable to release that information because of privacy regulations.
According to the lottery operator, forgotten winning tickets are extremely rare, with only about two cases reported each year. Since no one claimed the jackpot, the entire amount has now been returned to future prize pools.
Meanwhile, a similar story is unfolding in the United Kingdom. A winning Lotto ticket worth £12 million remains unclaimed in South Wales.
The lucky ticket matched all six winning numbers from the June 6 drawing, but the winner has yet to step forward. Lottery officials are urging players to double-check old tickets, reminding everyone that someone could already be a multi-millionaire without realizing it.
The UK winner still has until December 3 to claim the life-changing prize.
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