SOUTH RIVER — A lottery ticket worth more than $400,000 remains unclaimed.
The ticket was for the New Jersey Lottery Jersey Cash 5 in the July 3 drawing at the Minit Mart convenience store on Whitehead Avenue.
The lucky numbers are 02, 18, 20, 23, and 32, with a prize total of $404,566.
Minit Mart owner Jayesh Patel said last week that no one had come forward to claim the prize. He added that he has a sign in the window to let people know of the exciting news, and the mystery winner is something that his customers enjoy talking about.
According to a press release, New Jersey State Lottery Executive Director Carole Hedinger said the ticket holder is not the only one who benefited from that Minit Mart transaction — Patel will benefit, as well.
“We are thrilled that the winning jackpot ticket was sold at the Minit Mart,” Hedinger said. “For selling this ticket, the retailer will receive a bonus check for $2,000. Overnight, it has become one more ‘lucky location’ for the very fortunate lottery winner.”
Patel said that in the 20 years he has owned the store, this is the biggest payout he has seen, even though there have been notable wins on both scratch-offs and in the Pick 4.
He said lottery tickets have been a part of his business over the past two decades.
However, the unidentified winner isn’t the only one who has or could walk away a winner from that drawing. According to Hedinger, 4,754 other players collectively won $124,399 in cash prizes in the July 3 drawing; 115 of them won $638 each for correcting matching four of the numbers. The remainder is entitled to $11 for three matching numbers.
Jersey Cash 5 has daily drawings, with the jackpot growing as the gap between wins lengthens. The odds of matching all of the numbers are one in 658,008, according to the New Jersey Lottery.