Only 3 Months Left For Unclaimed $1 Million Mega Millions Prize
Prize Was Won In September 2022 At Ames Store
CLIVE, Iowa - A $1 million Mega Millions® prize won in Ames is still unclaimed after nine months, and the Iowa Lottery reminds its players to double-check their tickets. Nine other prizes ranging from $10,000 up to $150,000 also are unclaimed in Iowa.
The $1 million-winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse, 2400 University Blvd. in Ames, for the game's drawing on Sept. 6, 2022. That drawing occurred just after the long Labor Day holiday weekend, with Labor Day 2022 celebrated on Sept. 5. Also that weekend, Iowa State won its 2022 football season opener at home against Southeast Missouri State.
Jeanette Mesecher, operations manager at The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse, recalls that it as a busy weekend in Ames, with a lot of people in town who aren't usually there.
"This unclaimed prize is something that folks talk about every day in our store," Mesecher said. "But we know a lot of people traveled to Ames that weekend. We keep telling people to check their tickets!"
Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn echoed that sentiment.
"This is a real-world demonstration of why the Iowa Lottery reminds all players to always check their ticket results," Strawn said. "We want all lottery prizes to be claimed by their winners – especially a potentially life-changing prize of $1 million."
The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse is a combination kitchen-bakery-convenience store along the busy University Boulevard thoroughfare on the south side of Ames near several large hotels.
The winner or winners of the $1 million prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6 of this year to claim it at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
The winning numbers in the Mega Millions drawing on Sept. 6, 2022, were: 6-17-46-59-68 and Mega Ball 2. The Megaplier® number was 4.
The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse received a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.
Here are details about the nine other sizeable lottery prizes in Iowa that also are unclaimed (details listed by prize amount):
| Game |
Prize Drawing |
Amount Won |
Retailer |
Expiration |
| Powerball® |
10/29/2022 |
$150,000 |
Floyd Food & Fuel,
Sioux City |
10/30/2023 |
| Powerball |
11/5/2022 |
$150,000 |
Hy-Vee C-Store,
Sheldon |
11/6/2023 |
| Powerball |
11/7/2022 |
$100,000 |
Casey's,
Dubuque |
11/7/2023 |
JACKPOT PARTY®
InstaPlay |
5/14/2023 |
$24,922 |
Sherpa Liquor & Tobacco, Burlington |
8/14/2023 |
| Lotto America® |
2/25/2023 |
$20,000 |
Hy-Vee,
West Des Moines |
2/26/2024 |
| Mega Millions |
7/26/2022 |
$10,000 |
Kum & Go,
Marion |
7/26/2023 |
| Mega Millions |
12/30/2022 |
$10,000 |
Kwik Star,
Dubuque |
1/2/2024 |
| Mega Millions |
4/14/2023 |
$10,000 |
QuikTrip,
Urbandale |
4/15/2024 |
| Super 7s InstaPlay |
5/29/2023 |
$10,000 |
Casey's,
Ottumwa |
8/28/2023 |
All the prizes listed need to be claimed at an Iowa Lottery office. If the winners have questions before coming forward to claim the prizes, they are welcome to contact the lottery at 515-725-7900 or wmaster@ialottery.com.
In the last fiscal year (FY 2022), more than $1.5 million in lotto and InstaPlay prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.
Time appears to be a factor. The Iowa Lottery reviewed plays from a sampling of recent lotto drawings and found that the vast majority of prize claims occurred within six months of the drawing date. Less than 3 percent of prizes from those drawings were claimed after that point.
Based upon those details, the lottery took action in April designed to address the concern that some people inadvertently may have been lulled by a lengthy prize-claim deadline into forgetting to claim their winnings.
Players in Iowa now have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in Powerball®, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life® and Lotto America®, and up to 90 days from the date of purchase to claim prizes in InstaPlay games. The claim period prior to April in the four multi-state lotto games was 365 days, so the current unclaimed prize list involves both claim periods and will continue to do so through April 2024.
(If the expiration date falls on a weekend or holiday when the lottery's offices are closed, the winner has until the close of business on the next business day to turn in the ticket.)
The money from lottery prizes that expire in Iowa without being claimed goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.
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