A couple of valuable Powerball tickets purchased at stores on opposite ends of the state remain unclaimed in Iowa. The tickets, each worth $200,000, were sold at convenience stores in Council Bluffs and Clinton. Iowa Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer says the Council Bluffs ticket is for last Saturday’s drawing, while the Clinton ticket is from the drawing on May 6th.
"Most of the time, when you’re talking about prizes of this size, folks come right in and claim the money," Neubauer said. "So, it’s possible that the people who have these tickets don’t even realize that they’re the big winner yet." The people that bought those winning tickets still have plenty of time to claim their prizes.
In Iowa, winners have 365 days from the date of the Powerball drawing in which they won a prize to claim the winnings. The ticket in Council Bluffs was purchased at Eddy’s convenience story at 3434 Nebraska Avenue, while the ticket in Clinton was purchased at Porter’s Convenient 66 at 1512 Lincolnway. Neubauer says a lot of Iowans miss out on collecting cash because they fail to check their lottery tickets.
She says up to a-million-and-a-half dollars goes unclaimed every year in Iowa because the expiration date passes. "Most of the time, however, it’s for small prizes. Three dollars here, five dollars there…it does add up over time to that million-and-a-half dollars," Neubauer said.
The jackpot for tonight’s Powerball drawing is estimated at $129-million.