Tonganoxie Man Wins $20,000 after Tough Year

This has been a very difficult year for Robert Sanderson and his family.  Sanderson's wife of 32 years, Evelyn, passed away last month after a long illness.  What happened on November 21, which would have been Evelyn's 71^st birthday, makes Sanderson wonder whether his wife is still looking out for him.

"I bought two $2 Bonus Crosswords at the store at 5 a.m. that morning and took them home to scratch off," Sanderson explained. "I was excited because I thought I'd won $2,000 on one of them. It wasn't until I got to the Lottery office that I found out I'd really won $20,000!"

"I have to give my wife some credit for that," Sanderson said. "It's a good thing to happen after all the stress and sadness of the past year."

Sanderson has been retired since 2004 and says he will use the prize money to have some work done on his car and save the rest.

The lucky $20,000 Bonus Crossword ticket was purchased at Fast Trax 115, located at 420 Stonecreek Drive in Tonganoxie.

For more information on games, promotions, winning numbers, and unclaimed prizes, or to join the free Kansas Lottery Players Club, visit www.kslottery.com.