Two Big Prize Winners in Arkansas Lottery
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: January 6, 2012
Ruth Simcox won one-million-dollars with a $20 Diamond Dazzler instant ticket.
Simcox bought the winning ticket at the Exxon Travel Plaza on Highway 5.
Simcox, who has been a nurse at Arkansas Children's Hospital for more than 30 years, said she bought the ticket Wednesday and put it in her purse. She didn't learn she was a winner until she scratched the ticket off later in the day.
She and her brother, who came with her to the Little Rock Claim Center to collect her winnings, first took the ticket to the retailer and scanned it to verify it was a winner.
Simcox said she already had spoken to a financial advisor about how to handle the money. She went home with $680,000, with 25-percent being withheld for federal taxes and 7-percent for state income taxes.
Simcox is the 12th Arkansas Lottery Millionaire since the first ticket was sold September 29, 2009.
The other recent big lottery winner is Terry Corbitt (in photo with wife Brandy below). He won $200,000 playing a $10 Jingle Jackpot ticket.
Corbitt bought the ticket at the Helena Crossing Conoco #1 on Highway 49 in West Helena.
When claiming his prize, Corbitt told lottery officials that he suffered an aneurysm several months ago and hasn't been able to get back to work, so this prize couldn't have come at a better time.
