The $14.3 million Iowa Lotto ticket was never claimed and now investigators are looking for answers. ABC News reported that state's Division of Criminal Investigation is trying to determine who owned the ticket and to make sure that the person wasn't killed or blackmailed.
The ticket was purchased at a Des Moines Iowa gas station in Dec. 2010 but a claim only came about nearly a year later, just right before the deadline to claim it expired. Crawford Shaw, 77, claimed the jackpot and said he prepresented a trust that was the owner of the ticket. . "He sent the ticket via FedEx to a law firm in Des Moines whose attorneys tried to collect on Shaw's behalf," reported ABC News.
Iowa officials then challenged the ownership of the ticket and Shaw then abandoned the claim and the ticket lost its monetary value since the deadline to collect winnings was past due.
Shaw and his attorney could not identify who purchased the ticket and where it was purchased or where the ticket had been for the year, which are all questions that are asked of ticket winners.
"The possibilities of what could have occurred here really are endless," said Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer to ABC News"It could have been as serious as someone being killed, or someone being blackmailed. It's all within the realm of possibility. The whole situation is just strange."
"Our security ran all the checks," Neubauer added to ABC News. "There was no question that it was actually the winning ticket, but they couldn't answer some very simple security questions."
Neubauer said to ABC News that Shaw said he didn't know the winner's identity and that the trust's proceeds would go to a corporation in Belize.
"In most instances, the people who come in to claim the prize answer the questions off the top of their heads in just a few minutes, so this was unusual the whole way through," she said to ABC News.
Jessica Lown who is communications manager at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said to ABC News that the winning ticket could have been stolen or somebody may have been blackmailed. "The important thing is that we want to sure there is nobody in physical jeopardy or that there is no financial crime going on," she said.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
