O.C. Lottery Winner Comes Forward; 1 Is Still Silent

Nearly a week after a record-breaking $193-million giveaway by the California Lottery, one of three winners has yet to step forward.

Friday evening, the state lottery announced a second winner has identified himself, and his name would be announced today in Orange County, where he bought the ticket.

The first winner, in the Northern California town of Half Moon Bay, claimed his prize of more than $64 million shortly after Saturday’s drawing.

But the winning ticket sold in Montebello has yet to be presented. That doesn’t mean the money will go unclaimed, a state lottery spokeswoman said Friday.

“Sometimes they want to get legal advice first,” Cathy Doyle-Johnston said. “Sometimes they want to gather their families together for the formal award. Sometimes they’re busy working.”

Of 1,992 grand prizes--each at least $3 million--awarded in the history of the lottery, only 14 winners have failed to claim their prize within the lottery’s 180-day deadline, she said.

The state lottery spokeswoman said the winner to be identified today in Orange County chose to take a lump-sum payment of nearly $33 million rather than 26 annual installments totaling $64 million.

The winning tickets in Southern California, carrying the numbers 6, 11, 31, 32, 39 and the Mega Number 20, were purchased at 7-Eleven stores. Both stores quickly received telephone calls from people claiming to know of a winner, but no one immediately presented himself or herself to the lottery, and some of the calls initially were considered hoaxes.

Harry Bisla, owner of the store in Orange, said two people excitedly called in and claimed they had a winning ticket. “They never showed up,” Bisla said. Lottery officials on Monday plan to present checks for $321,666 to each store owner--their share of the prize.

If the third winner doesn’t come forward, that money would go to education funding.