SIERRA VISTA — Someone is holding onto $200,000 and may not even know it.

The Arizona Lottery says someone has yet to claim a Powerball ticket that was purchased on Nov. 17 at the Circle K located at 3697 S. Highway 92.

Cindy Esquer, the community outreach liaison with the Arizona Lottery, said the person who has the ticket has until May 15 to claim their prize.

If the ticket holder doesn’t step forward, the unclaimed prize will be divided and put into two pots of money, Esquer said.

Thirty percent would be transferred into the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, which provides “trained courtroom advocates who work on behalf of abandoned, abused and neglected children,” according to the state lottery Web site.

The remaining portion would be put back into the lottery to fund the games.

Esquer said about 2 to 3 percent of all lottery winnings go unclaimed, with it mainly being $1 or $2 amounts. There are currently three $200,000 and seven $10,000 unclaimed Powerball prizes listed on the lottery Web site.

Esquer said the Arizona Lottery puts unclaimed prizes on its Web site, and it will typically send out a news release to an area news organization to let people know.

Mark LaVoy, who runs the Mesa-based Web site unclaimedlotteries.com and told the Wick News Service of the unclaimed prize, said he started a Web site three months ago that hopes to publicize the unclaimed prizes across the nation. He wants to make people aware of the money they might have won. “They’re not letting people know about it,” he said. “To me, to everybody, $200,000 is a lot of money.”

On the Net

• Arizona Lottery: arizonalottery.com

• Unclaimed lottery Web site: unclaimedlotteries.com

Just The Facts

Think you have a winning ticket?

• First, you’ll need to check the numbers. You can do that by taking the ticket to a lottery retailer. Or you can check your numbers with those run in the Herald/Review or at the Arizona Lottery Web site, www.arizonalottery.com/. The site displays past winning numbers.

• Next, if you have a winner, retailers can give money up to $599. For those winning tickets of $600 or more, the winnings can be collected at an Arizona Lottery office or by completing the back of the ticket and a claim form and mailing that to the Arizona Lottery at P.O. Box 2913, Phoenix AZ 85062-2913. A copy of an ID must be included.

Source: www.arizonalottery.com