EMMET COUNTY WOMAN WINS $20,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

For media-ready jpeg image of Charyle Nelson click here.

Charyle Nelson Wins First Top Prize Playing the "Sherlock Holmes" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Emmet County woman won the first $20,000 top prize playing the "Sherlock Holmes" instant-scratch game.

Charyle Nelson of Estherville claimed her prize Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Storm Lake. She purchased her winning ticket at Kum & Go, 1615 Central Ave. in Estherville.

Sherlock Holmes is a $2 scratch game. Players who match any of "their numbers" to any "winning number" on their ticket win the prize shown for that play area. If they find a "hat" symbol, they win the prize shown instantly. The overall odds of winning in the game are 1 in 3.61.

Nelson claimed the first of five top prizes of $20,000 in the Sherlock Holmes game. Thirty-nine prizes of $200 have yet to be claimed, as well as 72 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.