A $17.1 million Lotto winner, who purchased their ticket from Twizel, is still yet to claim their prize, meaning Lotto NZ may step in to help.
The ticket was bought at Market Store in Twizel for the draw on December 28.
"If we do not hear from the $17.1 million winner soon we will make every effort to find them and share the good news," Lotto NZ head of communications Marie Winfield told 1 NEWS.
"We have some snippets of information about the winning ticket to pass onto a private investigator to locate the missing millionaire.
"While we can’t give specifics about this winning ticket, generally speaking we are able to drill down and find specific information about the winning ticket, such as what day the ticket was bought, the exact time, and whether they paid with cash, credit card or Eftpos and we can use this data to help us investigate."
However, Ms Winfield said it was likely the winner could still be on an extended holiday and unaware of their new fortune. She also said it wasn't too uncommon that people would save up tickets to check at once.
It was purchased from the Market Store in the South Island town.
"Just last week we had a $1 million winner who won in mid-December and only checked their ticket last Monday."
But they can't leave it too long. Winners have 12 months to claim their prize. All of Lotto NZ’s profits go back to the community – so if unclaimed, the money goes towards good causes.
"There have only been several instances when a prize has gone unclaimed and we’ve worked with a private investigator to locate the winner," Ms Winfield said.
In 2013, a Christchurch player was unaware they had won $22 million on Big Wednesday.
"The man thought the prize had already been claimed so was taken by surprise when Lotto NZ knocked on his door," Ms Winfield said.
"We’re able to drill down and find specific information about the winning ticket. We were looking for anything that would help us find the winner.
"In that case, some things didn’t go our way – the customer paid cash – but we had some good luck while working with the staff at Pak'nSave Riccarton, and before long we found some video footage that narrowed our search down to one person."
Other winners who took their time
In August 2019, a $12.2 million Powerball prize went unclaimed for over two weeks. The ticket was purchased on MyLotto and Lotto NZ was able to contact the winner who was completely unaware they had won and was surprised by the news.
In 2017, a Gisborne couple took two weeks to claim a $6.5 million Powerball prize. They knew straight away that they'd won but wanted to take their time before claiming to think about how to manage their windfall.
In 2014, a Hamilton couple sat on their winning $16.2 million ticket for 10 days before checking and finding out they were the missing millionaires.
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