A lucky lotto player who waited almost six months to collect $55 million has finally come forward, but their identity and reason for the delay will likely never be publicly known.
Just days away from being transferred to Victoria's State Revenue Office for safekeeping under unclaimed money rules, the ticketholder stepped up on Wednesday.
The prize, which had been Australia's largest unclaimed lottery sum, is due to drop in the winner's bank account on Thursday.
The ticket was bought at a suburban Melbourne newsagency by an unregistered player before the winning Powerball draw on January 11.
Repeated attempts to flush out the ticket failed until the winner appeared in person at Tatts with the proof in hand.
"Exactly who the winner is, where they've been and what they plan to do with their multimillion-dollar payday will forever remain a mystery," Powerball said in a statement.
"They have chosen to remain completely anonymous and celebrate in private."
The winner's age and gender remain secret and it hasn't even been revealed where they claimed the prize.
"They should see the $55 million in their bank account on Thursday morning," the Lott spokesman Matt Hart told AAP.
Theories about what happened to the ticket, which was bought in Brunswick, abounded for months.
Some said the lucky ticket was lost at the bottom of a handbag or under a couch, while others claimed it had travelled overseas with a Greek holiday maker or was in the pocket of a foreigner returning from the Australian Open.
Others tried their luck claiming the ticket.
"People say they've lost it, they washed it or they've moved house and it's in a box," newsagency worker Jimena Cardozo said previously.
The prize had captured the nation's imagination, Powerball spokeswoman Bronnie Spencer said.
"Everyone has been wondering who the mystery winner is and also dreaming what they would do with the prize," she said.
Newsagency owner Sam Misiano was relieved by the news, having heard a range of excuses from customers claiming to have misplaced the golden ticket.
"It has been a crazy few months but now we can relax knowing it has been claimed by the rightful winner," he said.
Victoria is one of only two Australian states that honour lottery prizes forever, with the winnings able to be collected at any time after being transferred to the revenue office.
