Winning the lottery might seem like an unattainable goal for most, but one lucky (or unlucky, depending how you look at it) contestant is still blissfully unaware they could be $1.5 million richer... if they manage to claim in time.
A winning Powerball ticket that scooped the $1.5 million prize remains unclaimed - and is just hours away from becoming invalid.
A contestant in California bought the winning Powerball ticket last October, but is yet to come forward to claim their prize.
The ticket was bought at a Mobil gas station on Los Gatos Boulevard in Santa Clara County on October 26 last year - and the winner has until April 24 to make themselves known or lose the life-changing sum.
According to Powerball rules, winners have up to 180 days from the date the draw takes place to claim their prize, otherwise the money will go toward funding public education throughout the state of California.
Over $41 billion has been raised for state public schools since the lottery began in 1985, according to The California Lottery.
Lottery officials said in a news release: "Days have turned into weeks, weeks have turned into months, and the California Lottery is still waiting for the player who bought a wining Powerball ticket in Los Gatos this past October to come forward.
"The winning ticket was one of two that matched five numbers, missing only the Powerball number, in the draw on Wednesday, October 26, 2022," they revealed, adding that the other winning ticket has already been claimed.
Officials urged anyone who may have purchased a ticket for the draw to "search their car, junk drawer, wallet, or any other place they stash their tickets to see if they have the one."
They added: "At this point, there is no way of knowing if it was a local resident who bought the lucky Powerball ticket, or if it was someone just passing through."
The winner has just a matter of hours left to claim, with the winning tickets bearing the numbers 19-36-37-46-56, and only missing the Powerball number.
While most of us would not hesitate to check our tickets as soon as the draw is done, lottery winnings going unclaimed is actually not that unusual.
According to a CNN article from 2017, of the then 384 jackpot winners of the Powerball and MegaMillions games since 2003, five went unclaimed.
Lottery officials have stated that if someone does find the winning ticket before the deadline comes on Monday, they should "sign the back of that ticket!"
They added: "Then, get it to one of the Lottery's nine offices throughout the state and complete the official claim form." It can also be submitted online too.
Officials stressed, however, that the ticket "needs to be postmarked or claimed in person" by Monday to be eligible to get the prize.
So what are you waiting for? If you were in California in October last year, get searching those drawers.
Featured image credit: Lars Hagberg / Alamy
