BRACEY, Va. — The Virginia Lottery has reported a winner in its Lotto South jackpot game. The winning $4 million ticket, which was sold near the North Carolina border, has yet to be claimed. Could someone have the winning ticket and not know it?

News of the unclaimed ticket spread like wildfire through Uppy's Store in Bracey. It been a few weeks since the winning Lotto South ticket number, 02-03-06-21-39-42, was sold there.

"I'm kind of in a daze, because I thought you'd be checking every day to see if you've got the winning ticket so you could come in and say, 'I got the ticket that's worth $4 million,'" said Uppy's clerk Lisa Shelenberger.

There's no rush for the winner to step forward. Under Virginia Lottery rules, the person with the winning number has until August to claim the prize.

The store sells more lottery tickets than sandwiches, ice cream and gasoline. But the big question is, "Where is that winning ticket?"

"There's a lot of different things that could have happened," said Shelenberger. "Maybe somebody else bought the ticket. It could have gotten thrown away. It could be stuck in somebody's car."

Or maybe it's just sitting on someone's kitchen counter.

"I ain't checked my tickets yet," said Shawn Thompson of Norlina. "I've got to go home and check my ticket."

Like Thompson, many lottery ticket players are double checking those Lotto South ticket numbers. That second look could be worth $4 million.

The Virginia Lottery Commission turned over $423 million in proceeds to the public school system last year. Ticket sales from Uppy's Store in Bracey accounted for $2.6 million.