Lotto punter 'blissfully unaware they're $17 million richer' as Twizel ticket remains unclaimed

1 NEWS reporter Jordan Oppert has this story.

The $17.1 million won in the Mackenzie District nearly two weeks ago is still unclaimed, despite calls for all Lotto ticket holders to get theirs checked.

The winning ticket was purchased from The Market Store in Twizel on December 29.

The town only has a little over 1100 permanent residents. The rest are holiday home owners or tourists passing through.

Lotto is giving the winner until the end of the week to claim their prize, before going about solving the mystery themselves.

Lotto’s chief executive, Chris Lyman, told 1 NEWS they have enough information to hand over to a private investigator.

“It’s likely given just how busy Twizel is around this time of year that it was either someone passing through or someone still living there.. blissfully unaware they’re $17 million richer,” he said.

Financial help’s on standby for the winner too.

ANZ’s Craig Offwood said the key for Lotto winners is to have a long and short term plan in place to ensure the money isn’t blown.

“We’ve seen some really good success stories but equally we’ve seen some less successful outcomes where the money’s just disappeared because they think it’ll last forever and they chew through it,” he said.

2019 was Lotto’s biggest year ever, with more than $500 million given out to lucky Kiwis.

Lotto’s created more 917 millionaires since it began in 1987.

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