This photo illustration shows a pen and scratch card for Euromillions tickets. Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
On Sunday, a tobacco shop owner was arrested for allegedly stealing a winning lotto ticket from a customer.
However, authorities did not locate the winning ticket and released him on his recognizance.
The search continues for the $580,000 lotto ticket that is missing.
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Time reported that police arrested a tobacco shop owner, who was believed to have stolen a winning ticket from a customer and booked a flight out.
Police found the man at Rome's Fiumicino Airport as he tried to board a flight from Rome to the Canary Islands. However, authorities were unable to locate his ticket.
A woman in her 60s bought two lottery cards from the shop. According to the Associated Press, one was the winning ticket. It offered a prize of 500,000 Euros ($580,000).
The winning ticket was handed to the woman by a shop worker, who then passed it to the owner to verify. Italian news reports claim that the owner didn't return the ticket but rather fled on his scooter with the winning ticket.
According to AP, authorities searched the man at the airport but didn't find the winning ticket.
Time reported that the man was released after being detained.
According to AP, the Italian tax office which runs the lottery has said that it had blocked the sale of lottery tickets at the shop in an attempt to stop the thief cashing in the prize.
Authorities are still searching for the winning ticket.
Insider has the original article.
