California Powerball prize of $447M not yet claimed

MENIFEE — Lottery officials on Monday gave a ceremonial million-dollar check to the owners of a Southern California liquor store that sold the winning $447.8 million Powerball jackpot ticket and said whoever bought it has still not come forward to claim the prize.

At the busy store right off the freeway in the small city of Menifee, residents stopped by to congratulate members of the Alberre family, who have owned the business for more than two decades, and muse about whether someone among them might be about to take home the 10th largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

California lottery officials said a sole winning ticket was sold at the Marietta Liquor & Deli, but they won’t reveal when the purchase took place to avoid encouraging false claims.

Russ Lopez, a lottery spokesman, urged whoever has the ticket to seek sound financial and legal advice. The winner has up to a year to claim the prize.

“That’s a lot of money for somebody in this area,” Lopez said as community members snapped photos outside the lucky store.

The Alberre family said they didn’t know what they would do with the $1 million bonus awarded to the retailer that sold the winning ticket.

Albeir Alberre, a 65-year-old immigrant originally from Syria, said the store has sold a few winners since he started the business in the late 1990s but never this big. His son, Matthew Alberre, said he couldn’t believe when he received a call with the news at his cousin’s high school graduation party Saturday night.