Charles Langston:A $44 million lottery ticket, a Sunoco station, and the search for a winner

KISSIMMEE,Charles Langston Fla. – Over the past few months, Jamie Barreto has seen people at his neighborhood gas station riffling through trash cans and snatching crumpled receipts off the ground. Waiting in line to buy a pack of cigarettes, he's watched others plead with the staff.

"Can you check the cameras? I'm telling you it was me," one begged the man behind the counter, to no avail.

At the Sunoco Express in Kissimmee, less than 20 miles from Walt Disney World Resort, customers have been spellbound by the search for an orange-and-pink strip of paper printed with the numbers 9, 13, 15, 46, 51 and 52.

The Florida lottery ticket, sold at the store, matched the winning numbers in the state's June 14 drawing. The jackpot: $44 million.

"I don't blame them ... I was looking too, man," 41-year-old Barreto said. "That much money could change anybody's life."

'WINNING TICKET SOLD HERE'

The Sunoco Express, where the sought-after "Quick-Pick" ticket was purchased the day before the drawing, is largely unknown to the millions of tourists who visit the nearby theme parks and Orlando's luxury malls each year. It stands between a gold dealer and several auto repair shops across the street from a mobile home park. Many of the surrounding houses are run down and people frequently sleep overnight under a pair of wooden benches on the side of the convenience store.

Soon after the winning numbers were announced the gas station owner placed white posters around the shop, announcing in bold red letters "WINNING TICKET SOLD HERE." As the months went by with no one claiming the prize, the multi-million dollar mystery became a central topic of conversation in and around the store.

"Still nothing?" Jeff Base, 62, asked the clerks when he'd stop in each week to buy Powerball tickets. A self-described "conservative gambler," Base said he got calls from friends who'd heard about a winning jackpot ticket sold in Kissimmee, where he works with the Disabled American Veterans nonprofit.

"I'm not that lucky," he replied. "Apparently neither's the guy that won it."

States hit lottery jackpot with unclaimed winnings

An unclaimed jackpot is rare. Since the Florida Lottery was launched in 1988, there have been 30 unclaimed jackpots, ranging from $1.2 million to $66 million, said Michele Griner, a spokesperson for the agency, adding that there are about 166 lottery drawings every year.

In New York, only three jackpots have expired since the state started selling Mega Millions in 2002. The largest unclaimed Powerball jackpot was sold in 2011 in Georgia; the prize total was a $77 million annuity or $40.83 million in cash.

Annually, Americans spend over $90 billion the lottery, according to historian Jonathan Cohen, author of  “For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America.”

Who plays the lottery? Why?

Cohen wrote in the Washington Post that the players who spend the largest percentage of their income on lottery tickets, and who play the most often, are disproportionately male, lower income, less educated and non-white.

The lottery, he said, appeals to Americans who have "lost faith in the traditional economic ladder but have not given up on dreams of striking it rich."

"Almost every American has a better chance of moving up the class ladder through work or entrepreneurship than they do of defying the one-in-302 million odds of hitting the Mega Millions," he said. "But, especially in communities facing public- and private-sector disinvestment and continued police violence, many people may perceive that they have no chance in the mainstream economy. In their minds, the lottery offers at least some chance."

Banking on long odds with lottery games

Time for Sunoco Express's $44 million ticket ran out Tuesday at midnight.

After months of frenzied searches and failed schemes, no one showed up at the Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee with the coveted ticket to receive their riches. Tickets are deemed "expired" if no one comes forward to claim the prize within 180 days.

The lottery confirmed the money will go back to the state: 80% will be used to fund state education programs, and the rest will go back into the prize pool for future drawings.

"Whoever won that ticket is probably someone who really needs the money," said Jose "Cheo" Lopez, a tire shop technician who often stops at the Sunoco Express on his way home from work. "What a waste."

Lopez, 35, has lived and worked in Kissimmee since he and his family moved there from Puerto Rico in the early 2000s. A lover of cars and street racing, he hopes to one day open up his own garage.

He said he's not banking on a winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket to do that, because, as he put it, "There's no point, the odds are so against you."

After buying a bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and a $1 scratch off, he said, "I'll keep what I got."

Christopher Cann is a breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him via email at [email protected] or follow him on X @ChrisCannFL.