The largest lottery prize in the history of Atlantic Canada remains unclaimed.
On April 15, a New Brunswick lottery operator sold the winning $64 million Lotto 6/49 gold ball ticket in Gloucester County, NB. However, one month later, the victor of the record-breaking jackpot has yet to come forward.
The Atlantic Lottery Corporation, though eager to solve the mystery of the nameless winner(s), has no intentions of rushing the process.
Instead, it plans on adopting a patient approach to navigate the overwhelming excitement and intrigue of such a historic feat.
ALC to stay on standby awaiting winner
According to the ‘claiming your prize’ section of the ALC website, winning tickets expire one year after the draw date. Right now, that’s not something to worry about, but it’s also not something to hold off on.
Greg Weston, a spokesperson for the company, told CTV News Atlantic that winners typically redeem their prize within a few days of the draw. But that pattern doesn’t always apply to the big wins.
“Sometimes winners, especially when it comes to a larger prize like this, they will take a few extra days or a little more time before they come in to claim their prize and it’s difficult to speculate why that is,” said Weston. “Everyone has their own reason, maybe they want to talk to a lawyer, a financial advisor, maybe they have to talk to their family before they come in.”
Regardless of their reason for holding out, Weston said it’s completely within their rights to do so.
Rumours emerge on social media about potential winners
Surely, a win of this magnitude is going to stir up a fair share of social media buzz.
As such, Weston and his colleagues have been monitoring various platforms to keep tabs on the developing situation. Per Weston, the latest rumour circulating social media suggests that the landmark jackpot actually belongs to a group of winners.
Specifically, there have been rumblings that employees at a major retail outlet in New Brunswick took home the monumental prize.
Despite all the chatter, the ALC views the murmurings as nothing more than run-of-the-mill rumours.
“Certainly we’ve been paying attention to social media and seen what everyone out there is saying, but at this point we’re waiting to hear from the winners and we’ll have more details to share about them once we do.”
