Did you visit the Galica region of Spain last summer, specifically the city of A Coruña? Did you happen to pick up a lottery ticket in a Carrefour shopping centre, only to misplace it when you went to buy another ticket in a different shop? Well, if you happen to fit those rather specific criteria, you could be almost 5 million euro richer.
As reported by La Vos de Galica and The Guardian, the search is on for the true owner of the valuable missing ticket. The ticket - with the numbers 10, 17, 24, 37, 40 and 43 - was found by a particularly honest person named Manuel Reija González. If the owner doesn’t turn up within two years, or doesn’t pass the lengthy verification process, then González will earn the prize money for himself.
In an unusual twist, it has been reported that González comes from a family of lottery officials, with his grandfather, father and brother all working in lottery administration. The Local even points out González is a ticket seller himself.
With only one ‘false’ claimant having come forward so far, the Spanish lottery administrators are minimising the information they’re releasing about the ticket to prevent an influx of opportunistic claims. With a fresh appeal for the true owner about to kick off, that might prove a little challenging.