California woman says she accidentally destroyed $26M lottery ticket in wash

The winner of a $26 million lottery jackpot in California may have destroyed her ticket in a washing machine, possibly leaving her high and dry when it comes to collecting.

The precious ticket with the winning numbers for the Nov. 14 SuperLotto Plus drawing in California was purchased at an Arco AM/PM in Norwalk, Calif., last year.

Thursday was the deadline for redemption, and it passed with no one submitting the hard-copy ticket displaying the winning numbers 23, 36, 12, 31 and 13.

An employee of the Arco AM/PM in Norwalk told the Whittier Daily News that a woman visited the store Wednesday and said she put the ticket into the pocket of some pants that went into the laundry.

The store’s manager told KTLA that surveillance video showed the woman who purchased the ticket. A copy of the surveillance video was previously turned over to California Lottery officials, the manager said.

A spokeswoman with the California Lottery told the Whittier Daily News it was possible the woman in question was one of at least six people who submitted missing-ticket claims in attempts to collect the prize.

To claim a prize without a ticket, individuals need “compelling substantial proof (they) were in possession of the ticket,” the spokeswoman, Cathy Johnston, told the newspaper.

Johnston said for a payday of this size, all non-ticket claims are “investigated.”

Unfortunately, store surveillance footage isn’t considered reliable proof, Johnston said

More compelling proof is photographic evidence showing the front and back of the ticket, officials say.

If no one successfully claims the $26 million prize, the $19.7 million cash option will go back to education, Johnston reportedly said.