Time running out for lottery winner

It's just a year-old piece of paper with some numbers on it: 9, 12, 31, 39 and 52.

But those digits make it worth $200,000 - if turned in by tomorrow.

By Friday, that paper won't be worth a dime.

Last year, in time for the June 18 Powerball drawing, a player bought a ticket with the five numbers at Choi Food & Beer, 3987 Ford Rd. in the River Park section of West Philadelphia. That person has not claimed the $200,000 prize for matching all five numbers, and is running out of time.

If you have the ticket with those numbers, first sign the back, making it difficult for anyone else to claim.

Then call the Pennsylvania Lottery at 717-702-8146 and file a claim by tomorrow at lottery headquarters in Middletown, Dauphin County (before 4 p.m.), or at any of the lottery's seven regional offices (till 4:30 p.m.), including one at 700 Packer Ave. in Philadelphia (215-952-1123).

It's not the first time winners have delayed calling lottery officials. Last month, a Cumberland County, Pa., woman claimed a $400,000 Powerball prize with just a week left. She found the winner saved in a shoe box after her husband saw a news report about the unclaimed prize.

Speaking of checking Powerball tickets, no one has turned up with a huge jackpot-splitting ticket purchased at the end of February at Plymouth Meeting Mall. The numbers drawn on Feb. 28 were 3, 16, 20, 42, and 58, with a Powerball of 7.

Two tickets hit the $174.4 million jackpot, and one was purchased at the mall. The other winner, from Delaware, has already claimed half the jackpot, $87.2 million.

But wait, there's more: There's an unclaimed $1 million payout in last Wednesday's drawing. Did you buy a Powerball ticket between June 6 and 10 at the Acme at 907 Paoli Pike in West Chester? If so, and you paid for the Power Play, you better check those numbers. The matched numbers were 15, 26, 27, 42 and 58, while the (red) Powerball was 37.

Although no one hit all the Powerball numbers drawn last Wednesday, two tickets did have all five numbers - minus the Powerball - plus the Power Play multiplier option. One was purchased in Montana, the other at the Acme. With Power Play, matching all the white balls automatically means $1 million.

For more lottery information, go to www.philly.com/philly/news/lottery.