Unclaimed Powerball fortune is top news story

If all you're counting is the hits, Philly.com's top single text news story the past 12 months -- by number of page views, not counting photo galleries -- is Peter Mucha's May 4 column about the unclaimed $87 million Powerball lottery prize sold in Plymouth Meeting earlier this year.

Peter's column was hit 600,000 times, a few thousand more than any individual shooting-in-a-movie theater story,  Philly-TV-anchor-busted-in-New York story, Obama-election story, or even Wing Bowl-championship story, confirms philly.com editor Wendy Warren.

Excerpts: "Somebody bought the ticket at Plymouth Meeting Mall, according to state lottery officials. But, 69 days later, still no word... This is the longest wait ever for anyone who won a Powerball jackpot in Pennsylvania... Winners have a year to stake a claim.

"What happened this time? Some theories...
"The dog/hamster/ferret ate the ticket...
"House fire or car accident...
"Fell out of sock while jogging...
"He or she just hasn't checked the ticket yet..
"The winner is waiting for the divorce...
"The winner is a wanted felon...
"The winner is waiting for next year, to save on taxes..."

"The winning numbers were 3, 16, 20, 42 and 58, with a Powerball of 7."  Still unclaimed, Pennsylvania Department of Revenue spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell confirms.