Time is Running Out on the Unclaimed $500,000 Iowa Lottery Ticket

The winner of a massive lottery prize has less than a month to claim it before a six-figure piece of paper effectively becomes worthless.

Back in March, a Powerball ticket was purchased at a Kwik Star, located at 1502 South Federal Avenue, in Mason City, IA. That ticket proved to be a lucky one, as it's now worth $500,000. The prize will expire if unclaimed by the September 12th deadline.

However, there's another interesting wrinkle in all of this...

The prize was not in fact won in a regular Powerball drawing, but in the Powerball Double Play drawing held on March 16th, per the Globe Gazette. The winning Double Play numbers that evening were: 9-11-13-29-69 and the Double Play Powerball number was 12.

The numbers on the winning ticket sold in Mason City were then eligible to win twice: once in the regular Powerball drawing and once in a separate Double Play drawing that same night. The Double Play option was added to the Iowa Powerball game in November. This meant that for an extra dollar per play, Powerball players could add the Double Play option.

The Mason City ticket from March 16th matched the first five numbers, but missed the double Play Powerball. Not to mention, it's among three lottery prizes of at least $20,00 in Iowa that are unclaimed and will expire later this year if they aren't claimed by their respective deadlines.

As is the case with prizes of that magnitude, they cannot be redeemed at any gas station or convenience store. They must be claimed at an Iowa Lottery office; the $500,000 prize must be claimed at lottery headquarters in Clive.

Anyone with questions when it comes to claiming their lottery prize can phone lottery headquarters at (515)-725-7900. Furthermore, let this be a reminder to all who play the lottery to scan all scratch-off and lottery tickets even if you believe you lost. I especially do this with bingo and crossword scratch-off tickets. It's almost too easy to miss scratching off a letter or a number.

Read more about the unclaimed Powerball ticket purchased in Mason City on the Globe Gazette's website.