‘Handbags, pockets, anything’: Inside the hunt for mystery $100m winner

In June last year, somebody stepped into the Bondi Junction Newsagency and purchased a lottery ticket that would go on to win a $100m jackpot.

One year later, the jackpot remains unclaimed, and the newsagency in Sydney’s east is renewing its appeal to the public in an effort to track down the mystery millionaire.

More than a year after a $100 million jackpot was announced, the elusive winner is still yet to claim their prize

The only evidence that exists of the win sits framed on the wall behind the store counter, which is manned three days a week by retail assistant Grace Martino.

Speaking to NewsWire, Ms Martino said the newsagent had been painstakingly reminding people to check their old tickets.

“There was one winner, one ticket, which got the correct number. But we haven’t seen the ticket and we haven’t seen the winner. We’ve got the metal plaque up there to prove we did sell it … but that’s about all we can say,” Ms Martino said.

“We have been asking customers to check tickets, to check drawers, to check bags, handbags, pockets, anything where the ticket could be hiding.”

Ms Martino said the ticket was purchased by somebody who wasn’t registered as a NSW Lotteries member – a process that would have allowed the newsagent to contact the lucky winner via their phone number and their email address.

“We have been promoting the membership card for customers because if that ticket had been registered, it wouldn’t be a worry in the world … if people are members, the card is free and protects your ticket all the way to the bank,” she said.

Despite the ongoing mystery, Ms Martino said there had been no shortage of people turning up to the store claiming to be the jackpot winner.

“I don’t know how many people have been in to fill the claim form over the last 12 months,” she said.

“Quite a few hundred, I’m sure. But the thing is, people need to ask all the right questions and the most important answer is what time it was when they bought the ticket,” she said.

“They have a 10-minute window which has to be correctly filled out, and people ask all these questions. They tell us ‘but you have a camera’ and I say ‘yeah, we have cameras but that can’t tell us when we sold it’.”

Ms Martino told NewsWire she would use the money to help people.

“I would send it all to charities. It’s so much money, it doesn’t need to sit in the bank,” she said.

“I don’t need a hundred million, my family don’t need a hundred million, but it would be very good to help a lot of people.”

The Lott spokeswoman Khat McIntyre said it was highly uncommon for division one winners to wait so long to come forward and collect their prize.

“It’s rare for major prizes to remain unclaimed for long, and we’re eager to unite our mystery $100 million winner with their prize,” she said.

“Now almost a year on, this life-changing ticket could still be sitting unchecked. As the entry wasn’t registered, we’re unable to contact the winner directly.”