
The deadline for the mystery lottery winner to claim their $2.9 million prize is 5 p.m. on Friday. The ticket holder must visit one of the California State Lottery's nine offices by the deadline to claim their prize, otherwise the ticket is no longer valid.

The specific Mega Number that the ticket missed, preventing the win of the larger jackpot, is 3. The winning ticket matched the numbers 8, 23, 44, 45, and 53, but missed out on the big jackpot by only one number — Mega Number 3.

The winning ticket in the Mega Millions draw matched five numbers. It matched the numbers 8, 23, 44, 45, and 53, missing out on the big jackpot by only one number - Mega Number 3.