Woman unfolds Iowa lottery ticket destined for trash — and realizes it’s a big winner

The first time Pamela Litzel looked over her Iowa Lottery scratch game ticket, she believes she must have been in a hurry.

“When I started scratching it, I got interrupted and thought, ‘Well, it’s not a winner,’” the 70-year-old woman told lottery officials on Aug. 15. “So I just folded it and put it in the side pocket of the door of my car.”

But that “$100,000 Mega Crossword” ticket was a big winner — and she didn’t know it, according to a news release from the Iowa Lottery.

A week later, Litzel said she was cleaning out her car and came across the lottery ticket destined for the trash. She decided to give the ticket another look.

That’s when the Clear Lake woman realized the $10 ticket was actually a winner.

“I almost threw it away!” Litzel told lottery officials. “I didn’t think it was a winner, and I thought, ‘Well, I’m just going to check over these old tickets before I throw them.’ And lo and behold!”

Litzel took her ticket back to Randy’s Neighborhood Market and used the self-checker to see how much she won, according to the release.

Her ticket was worth $100,000 — the game’s top prize.

“I just realized it on Sunday, and I’m still kind of walking on air,” Litzel said when claiming her big win.

She hopes she can use her winnings to retire from a custom cabinetry company, according to the release.

Clear Lake is about 115 miles north of Des Moines.

This story was originally published August 18, 2023 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Woman unfolds Iowa lottery ticket destined for trash — and realizes it’s a big winner."