Iowa Lottery

Trip To The Grocery Store Ends In Surprise

Kathy Whiteman Wins Top Prize of $30,000 Playing the "Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear Kathy tell her story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - An Evansdale woman picked up a few of the lottery's "Crossword" instant-scratch tickets while grocery shopping and ended up winning a top prize of $30,000.

Kathy Whiteman, 83, said she usually plays the lottery's "Super Crossword" game, but it just so happened that the regular Crossword game was the only version available at Fareway, 215 Evans Road in Evansdale.

"I scratched the second one and I was by myself," Whiteman said. "I just kept looking at it and looking at it and it finally dawned on me!"

Whiteman lives with one of her sons, so he looked the ticket over also to make sure she was seeing the $30,000 win correctly. She claimed her prize Thursday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.

"I need a garage so I'm thinking about getting one," Whiteman said. "In this stage of my life this is great."

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