Iowa Couple Loses Out On $100K Lottery Prize Due To Pandemic
A couple in Des Moines, Iowa is feeling pretty crappy after losing out on a $100K lottery prize due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Bradly Hanawalt says he asks himself every day what he’d do with an extra $100,000 after learning too late that he and his wife owned a winning Powerball ticket.
Hanawalt says his wife, with whom he shares 6 daughters, purchased the winning ticket back on November 26, 2019 at a local QuikTrip. But, she ended up contracting COVID-19 that same month. When he first learned of their golden ticket, he says, “My gut dropped. A chance to have $100,000 was awesome.” However, the couple, focused on Mrs. Hanawalt’s recovery and life’s curveballs, missed the deadline to cash in on November, 30, 2020. On February 8, 2021, Hanawalt claims he tried to claim the prize money after locating the winning ticket in his wife’s car.
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He reportedly been arguing for an extension with the Iowa Lottery officials, but to no avail. He said, “It doesn’t hurt because I didn’t have that money, but it hurts because I could have had that money. I have six daughters. It would have helped with bills and everything else.” Meanwhile, Lottery officials say they do not grant extensions on claiming prize money because they did not close during the pandemic. A spokesperson explains, “We feel great empathy for those folks (…) but Iowa law, Powerball law … the administrative rules are very clear. Once a prize is expired it cannot be claimed. We put out a reminder in the final week saying, ‘Please, please check. look at home. Check the sun visor on your car. If you have a pile of tickets, check them.”
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