New York woman makes second Florida trip to collect lottery jackpot

April 6 (UPI) -- A New York woman said she arrived home from visiting Florida and soon discovered she had to make a return trip to collect a $1 million lottery jackpot.

Dagmar Schmalhaus, 57, of Queensbury, N.Y., told Florida Lottery officials she bought a 200X The Cash scratch-off ticket from Hollywood Discount Liquors in Hollywood, Fla., while she was visiting her brother.

Schmalhaus said she was unpacking from the trip when she discovered the still-unscratched ticket.

"I bought the ticket while visiting my brother and forgot to scratch it until returning home to New York," Schmalhaus said.

The ticket turned out to be a $1 million top prize winner, leading Schmalhaus to schedule a second trip to Florida so she could visit lottery headquarters in Tallahassee and collect her prize, which she accepted as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $890,000.

Schmalhaus said she knows what she is going to do with her winnings.

"Once I realized I won $1 million, I told myself the first thing I want to do is pay off my brother's house," she said.