AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas is $7 million richer after the buyer
of a winning Lotto Texas ticket didn't claim the prize by the
deadline.

Texas Lottery Commission officials say Monday afternoon was the
deadline to claim the cash payout of $7,131,735.60, but the buyer
didn't show up.

The ticket was bought at the Big Country Mart in Burleson in
early May.

Lottery commission spokesman Bobby Heath says the ticket expired
180 days from the day of the drawing on May 6. He says when a prize
goes unclaimed, the money goes back to the state.

Heath says not cashing a Lotto ticket worth millions has
happened about five times since 1994.

The first $10 million returned each year is allocated to the
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the rest is
placed in the state's general fund.