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$1 Million Lottery Ticket Still Unclaimed in Columbia Falls

By Beacon Staff

A lottery ticket worth $1 million remained unclaimed a week after state officials announced the top prize was sold in Columbia Falls.

As of Jan. 6, no one had stepped forward to claim the winning ticket of the annual Montana Millionaire 2013 lottery, according to Amber Conger with the Montana Lottery office in Helena.

“We have not been contacted by anyone claiming they are the winner,” she said. “They have six months to claim from the date of the drawing. If they do not, it goes to the general fund.”

State lottery officials announced the winning numbers after the final drawing Jan. 2. The top prize, a $1 million ticket, was sold at Mike’s Conoco at 1645 Ninth St. W. in Columbia Falls.

The winning numbers are 090907.

“Everybody is wanting to know who won. People keep coming up and asking if anybody has claimed it yet,” Kristy Stevenson, manager at Mike’s Conoco, said.

The local gas station sold 202 tickets for this year’s Montana Millionaire. The store’s previous top prize for a lottery ticket was $5,000 during Stevenson’s tenure.

“We were floored,” she said of the announcement that the million-dollar ticket was sold at the store.

“Hopefully somebody claims it.”

Stevenson is posting daily updates on the Mike’s Conoco Facebook page.

The person with the winning ticket is advised to sign the back of the ticket immediately to establish ownership before notifying the lottery office at 406-444-5825.

Tickets for Montana Millionaire were sold for $20 apiece and went on sale Nov. 1. All 130,000 tickets sold out for the second year in a row, by mid-day Dec. 26, according to the office.

Two other tickets worth $100,000 were announced as part of the special annual lottery: one at 3G’s Convenience Store in Billings and another at the Tip It Bar in Havre. Three tickets worth $10,000 were sold: Smith’s Food and Drug in Bozeman; Safeway in Helena; and Superpumper in Sidney.

Montana Lottery operates out of Helena, with seven sales representatives around the state. It is supported by a network of more than 800 retailers. In 2012, $2.6 million was given away in prizes, 54.4 percent of total revenue, according to the lottery office.