FOUND: $23 million lotto winner who purchased ticket in Palmdale

UPDATED 11/1/12: The $23 million lottery winner saw her image in the media and turned the ticket in on Thursday (11/1/12) at the California Lottery’s Inland Empire office in San Bernardino, lottery officials announced Thursday.

A lottery official told the LA Times that the woman in the image had purchased the ticket at a Palmdale convenience store for her mother about five months ago, and her mother had put the ticket in her glove compartment where it remained forgotten for months.

The new winner will be introduced at a press conference Friday (11/2) at the California Lottery’s Inland Empire office. We will have more details Friday.

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PALMDALE – Do you know the woman in this photo? If so, you may want to let her know that she has less than one month to claim her $23 million jackpot win on a SuperLotto Plus ticket she purchased from an east Palmdale convenience store.

“It has now been five long months and the California Lottery continues to look for an individual it believes is California’s latest millionaire. We believe the mystery woman (see photo) purchased her winning ticket at Michael’s Market & Liquor, which is located at 37935 47th Street East in Palmdale,” reads a press release by the California Lottery issued Tuesday.

The winner, who purchased her $23 million jackpot-winning SuperLotto Plus ticket for the May 30 draw, matched all six numbers – 14, 7, 26, 31, 23 and Mega 5 – but still has not come forward to claim her millions.

If the winner does not come forward and claim the jackpot prize by close of business November 26, 2012, the unclaimed $23 million prize will be transferred to California schools.

In an on-going effort to connect Lottery customers with their winnings, the California Lottery has begun sending out photos of apparent winners of unclaimed prizes. In FY 2011/12, a total of more than $20.5 million in prizes went unclaimed.

Michael’s Market & Liquor will still receive a bonus of one half percent, or $115,000, for selling the winning ticket. Jackpot winners have 180 days from the date of the draw to claim the jackpot prize. The estimated cash option amount for this ticket is $16.9 million.

If you are the winner, the Lottery wants to remind you to sign your ticket, put it in a safe place and contact Lottery officials or visit your local Lottery District Office as soon as possible. The nearest district office to the retail location is in Van Nuys.

All past and current Lottery draw results can be obtained for free by dialing 1-800-LOTTERY and selecting option 2, or via www.calottery.com.

(Information via press release from the California Lottery.)