$100K Illinois Prize Will Soon Be Lost Forever

It's been said that procrastination can be costly. This would be the perfect Illinois example of that as someone is about to forfeit $100,000 unless they act very soon.

It was a September day last year when someone stopped in this Illinois store and picked up a Powerball ticket

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This is Lemont Liquors located at 1128 State Street in Lemont, Illinois. According to the Illinois Lottery's Unclaimed Prizes site, someone picked up a winning Powerball ticket there on September 6, 2025. That ticket is valued at a cool $100K, but no one has claimed it as of this writing and that's a problem. The Illinois Lottery gives winners a full year to come forward and claim their prize. That deadline is approaching for this winning ticket as it will be forfeited on September 6, 2026 which is getting closer as of today.

What happens if no one claims this $100K Illinois Lottery prize?

If a winner doesn't come forward within a year of the original drawing date, the prize goes into the Illinois Lottery Common School Fund which supports education from kindergarten through the 12th grade across the state. According to the Illinois Lottery, more than $700 million has been put in this fund by unpaid prizes over the years. There's no doubt that helping education is a great cause, but $100K is a life-changing amount of money for most people. It would be a crying shame if you have this ticket sitting in the floorboard of your vehicle right now. Great time to clean your vehicle and find out.