A $590 million Powerball jackpot ticket was sold in the small town of Zephyrhills and no one has come to claim it. The Associated Press reported that more than a week has passed since the jackpot has been announced.
Dave Walters, a reporter at the Zephyrhills News community newspaper said to the AP, "Being in a small town, everybody knows everybody and in some cases, everybody's business. It's hard to keep a secret in this town, but this is one of the biggest mysteries we've had in a long, long time."
The town is small, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida and has a population of 13,337. The winning ticket was sold in a Publix supermarket.
"Anybody who did not show up for work on that Monday was considered to be the lottery winner," Walters said to the AP. "If you had the flu and didn't show up for work, everyone thought you were the lottery winner. If you took a personal day or a sick day, they thought you had won the lottery."
People in the town are very anxious to find out who the winner is. "I've heard so many different rumors through town, from it being a 23- or 26-year-old woman to somebody might have washed it in their pocket, the ticket is just lost and they don't know that they won," said Marsha Decena who owns a clothing store in the town. "It's crazy."
Joe Abed who owns Manolo's Italian restaurant thinks that the ticket was sold to a senior citizen.
"It's a conspiracy theory," he said. "I believe it's a senior citizen that purchased the ticket and they just have no idea that they won the ticket."
From the day of the drawing in May 18 the winner has sixty days to claim a lump sum payment and until November to have annual cash payments.
"Just because one person won the lottery, we all feel like we won, that's the kind of community this is," said Mayor Danny Burgess. "I absolutely hope for the lottery winner that this is a positive, life-changing event. Only in America can you go to bed with a lottery ticket and wake up a mega-millionaire. I hope that they understand, appreciate and recognize the significance of this."
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