Missouri woman's $1M lottery ticket nearly ended up in the trash

Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A Missouri woman who won a $1 million prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket said her winning ticket nearly ended up in the trash.

The St. Louis County woman told Missouri Lottery officials she bought a $50 Millionaire Blowout scratch-off ticket from the 7-Eleven store on Lemay Ferry Road in St. Louis and didn't think it was a winner when she scratched it off.

She said the ticket remained in a pile of non-winning tickets in her car for two days before she decided to double-check the losing tickets using a gas station's lottery scanner.

"I stopped at the gas station to check my ticket, just to make sure I wasn't throwing away any winners," she said. "I scanned the ticket, and it said I won $1 million, visit the lottery office."

The player said she was stunned by the news.

"I couldn't believe this was real," she recalled.

The woman said she scanned the ticket multiple times to make sure.

"I thought maybe it was wrong, but it kept saying I was a winner," she said. "I won $1 million!"

The player did not reveal whether she has any immediate plans for her winnings.