An Illinois Lotto ticket worth more than $450,000 remains unclaimed after it was sold Saturday at a Thornton’s convenience store.
Paul Paghadal, co-owner of Koch’s Food and Liquor, 603 N. Chicago Road, has posted a sign in the store window announcing the big prize. Paghadal said it was slow on Saturday when his wife sold the ticket and believes a customer who regularly comes in likely bought it.
“Sometimes, they don’t want to tell us,” the 33-year-old store owner said. “They want to keep it private.”
Lottery officials are advising people to check their tickets if they bought a Quick Pick on Saturday for that night’s Lucky Day Lotto drawing.
The winning ticket matched all five numbers – 14 – 21 – 23 – 25 – 39.
Koch’s receives 1 percent of the prize amount, or $4,500, for selling the winning ticket, according to state lottery officials.
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Winners are urged to sign the back of their ticket as soon as possible and keep it safe, according to officials. They have until one year from the original drawing date to turn it into one of the Lottery’s five prize centers, located in Chicago, Des Plaines, Rockford, Springfield and Fairview Heights.
On Tuesday, a sign posted at Koch’s announces the outstanding prize and advises customers to “please check your tickets to see if you are a winner!”
The $450,000 is the biggest Lotto prize the store has had in at least six years, Paghadal said.
Koch’s is in the midst of a lucky streak, he said. In December, a clerk at the store sold a scratch-off ticket that won $250,000. During the last five months, the big payouts from tickets sold there have grown, including a $5 “scratcher” that paid out $10,000 and a $10 one that won $25,000.
Business at Koch’s jumped after the $250,000 winner in December, which happens every time a notable winning ticket is sold from the store, Paghadal said.
“When there are winners, customers think this is a lucky spot,” he said.
The timing also is right for state payouts, which were halted by Gov. Bruce Rauner as the state continues to function without a budget for the current fiscal year.
Payouts of more than $600 were on hold from July 1, 2015, until Rauner signed a bill restarting them beginning Dec. 14.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.