Winning Florida ticket in Powerball still unclaimed

The excitement may have died down, but the purchaser of a historic winning Powerball ticket in Melbourne Beach still has yet to step forward to claim a share of the coveted prize.

That means time may be slowly sipping away for the mystery winner to pocket the $528 million jackpot.

The ticket — one of three to split the $1.5 billion prize — was bought at a Publix Supermarket in the days leading up to the Jan. 13 drawing.

“It’s still unclaimed,” said Shelly Gerteisen, a spokeswoman for the Florida Lottery.

“We’re kind of guessing along with everyone else. It is not unusual, however, for this amount of money, for the winner to get their affairs in order, or seek an attorney. It’s a life-changing amount of money, so [the winner] just may be seeking legal counsel or maybe waiting for media interest to die down,” she said.

Officials also say that, despite the media frenzy that followed, it very well may also be that the person or persons may not know he or she won the prize.

The Melbourne Beach winner would share the top prize with two other winners, one that was claimed by a Tennessee resident and one that remains unclaimed in California.

State lottery officials recalled that a similar situation happened with one substantial prize, with the winner in that case waiting a full six weeks before claiming the jackpot.

However, if the winners of the Powerball wait too long, they may end up changing just how they will receive their earnings.

“The winner has to come forward within 60 days to get the cash. After that, you would default to an annuity. They also have a total of 180 days to claim the prize,” Gerteisen said, adding that the winner would receive $7.9 million the first year, with 30 annual payments to follow.

A lump-sum offering as part of the cash option would leave the winner with $328 million after taxes.