If you lose your ticket you still can claim the winnings . As long as you answer a few simple questions like where you bought it . City , store , day and around the time of purchase . If you lost that ticket and someone found it and turned it in they will not be able to answer any of those questions .
It's like finding a bag of money that fell out of a Brinks truck . Just because you found it doesn't make it yours and you can't keep it .