Unclaimed $16 Million Florida Lottery Jackpot Expires

Check pockets before doing laundry, folks

 A Powerball ticket worth $16 million became worthless on Friday after a six-month deadline for the winner to claim the prize money expired, Florida lottery authorities said.

"It's only happened a few other times, so this is really, really unusual," said Florida Lottery spokeswoman Amy Bisceglia.

"It could have been anything, from somebody forgetting about it in the laundry, or just throwing it away. We have no idea what happened," Bisceglia said, when asked how the ticket holder could not have claimed the fortune.