Imagine winning $7 million and not knowing about it. That appears to be the case in Brooklyn, where a gigantic prize has gone unclaimed for a year. As Michael Scotto reports, if the person doesn't step up by Friday night, the money is gone for good.
Last year, the the Milky Way Deli, a small convenience store in Canarsie, sold a winning Cash4Life lottery ticket worth $7 million. But amazingly, no one has stepped forward to turn it in.
"I'm searching my whole house to see if the ticket is somewhere in there, and I'm not gonna stop until I find that ticket," said one person at the deli.
"I wish it was me, but it was not me," said the owner of the deli.
The deli owner said it's the first time his store sold a winning ticket worth a giant payday.
Hoping to find its owner, the State Lottery has been papering the neighborhood with signs, including one with a smiling stick figure under the headline, "IS THIS YOU?"
Customers streamed into the store Thursday to double check their old tickets and buy new ones. They couldn't comprehend how anyone could make such a costly mistake.
"Costly? $7 million? That is more than a costly mistake," said another man.
"Ain't no way they're finding that ticket," said a third man. "They probably don't know they're looking for them."
Some customers appeared to have little sympathy for the ticket holder. One man at the store said, tough luck.
"Listen, you buy a ticket, you have to be responsible for it," said one man. "You pay the consequences. And that's all there is to it."
If you're the winner, you have until Friday to claim your $7 million. If you don't, all of that money goes back into the prize pool.