A California woman says she accidentally destroyed her $26 million-winning lottery ticket in the washing machine

• A California woman says she bought a winning lottery ticket but left it in her pants and washed it.
• The deadline to collect the $26 million winnings passed Thursday.
• If the prize isn't awarded, nearly $20 million of it will be donated to California's public schools.

A California woman says she won a $26 million lottery - but accidentally destroyed the winning ticket while doing the laundry.

According to the Whittier Daily News, an employee at an ARCO AM/PM convenience store where the winning SuperLotto Plus ticket was purchased six months ago said a woman claimed on Wednesday that she bought the ticket but accidentally left it in her pants when she did her laundry.

Cathy Johnston, a spokeswoman for the California Lottery Center, told the publication that at least six people turned in non-ticket claims to her office.

To win the jackpot, you must have "compelling substantial proof you were in possession of the ticket," Johnston said.

The manager of store told KTLA-TV in California that the store had surveillance video of the woman who bought the ticket, but Johnston said the store's footage was inadmissible and could not be used as proof because the store's cameras were not owned by the lottery center and couldn't necessarily prove which ticket the woman purchased.

The deadline to collect the prize passed Thursday.

If the massive prize is never claimed, nearly $20 million of it - the cash option - will be invested into public schools in California. According to a release from the California Lottery Center, the school system has received more than $1 billion in unclaimed lottery prizes since its inception.