ALBUQUERQUE – A bad wind blew good fortune to a Guadalupita woman.
Rebecca Leyba won $200,000 playing the New Mexico Lottery’s “Diamond Avalanche” Scratcher game. She ended up with the winning ticket after she and her husband drove 50 miles to Las Vegas to replace windows broken in a windstorm. On their way home Monday, they stopped for gas and snacks.
Above: pictured is Rebecca Leyba, winner of the Diamond Avalanche scratcher price
“I gave her $20 and told her to get whatever she wanted,” Guadalupe Leyba recalled for lottery officials in Albuquerque Tuesday. “I was hoping she would bring me an ice cream sandwich.”
Instead, his wife returned with a $20 lottery ticket. Two miles outside Las Vegas, she revealed the six-figure prize.
“It was unbelievable,” Rebecca Leyba said. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
The couple turned around and went back to Las Vegas to show the ticket to their children. It turned into a prank.
“We asked, ‘Do you want to see a $1,000 winner?’” Rebecca Leyba said. “Their jaws dropped.” The winner said she plans to use the $200,000 prize to pay bills, help her children and buy an ice cream sandwich for her husband.
The lucky ticket was purchased at Laguna Vista Quik Stop located at Mora Route Highway 518 in Las Vegas. The store has sold eight other large prize-winning lottery tickets paying between $1,000 and $25,000.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
Since 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $497 million for education and more than 75,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. As of the Spring 2011 semester, 235 students from Mora County have received approximately $950,000 in Legislative Lottery Scholarships. From San Miguel County, 1,270 students have received $5.7 million in scholarships.