Big Iowa Hot Lotto prize remains unclaimed

Iowa's mystery lottery winner remains a mystery.

Terry Rich, chief executive officer of the Iowa Lottery said Tuesday that a $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot remains unclaimed three months after a winning ticket was purchased at a Des Moines convenience store, prompting him to remind players to double-check their tickets.

“Today marks three months from the date of the drawing where the Hot Lotto jackpot was won,” Rich said in a statement. “Whoever won this prize has now waited longer to claim the prize than any lottery jackpot winner in Iowa in at least the past decade. And, we know that the $16.5 million-winning ticket has never been checked at one of our terminals, so it's possible the big winner still doesn't know the good news.”

The $16.5 million jackpot is the third-largest prize ever offered in the Hot Lotto game, and ranks as the seventh-largest Iowa Lottery prize won to date.

Rich noted that the jackpot-winning Hot Lotto ticket was purchased over the holidays, so he said it was possible that the lottery player who bought the winning ticket may have set it aside somewhere and has gone unnoticed.

The jackpot-winning Hot Lotto ticket was purchased at the Quik Trip at 4801 N.E. 14th Street in Des Moines. The lucky ticket matched all six numbers selected in the Dec. 29 Hot Lotto drawing to win the grand prize. The winning numbers that night were: 3-12-16-26-33 and Hot Ball 11.

Rich said that the lottery does not release a ticket's date or time of sale for security reasons, but some other details can be provided. The jackpot-winning play was on a ticket that spanned five Hot Lotto drawings from Dec. 25 to Jan. 8, he said.

Hot Lotto tickets in Iowa expire a year from the date of the drawing in which a prize is won, so Rich said there remains ample time for the jackpot to be claimed. It's just unusual that the lottery hasn't heard from anyone yet, he said.