A former Salina man has won a $25,000 lottery prize.

According to the Kansas Lottery, Richard Earley lived in Salina for 40 years before retiring and moving to Georgia. He came home to visit family, and it turned out to be a winning trip.

Earley, formerly of Salina and currently of Statesboro, Georgia, held onto a winning $25,000 scratch ticket playing the $5 Hot Cash instant game for several months before coming back to Kansas to claim his prize.

“I knew I’d be back in the state for my nephew’s wedding, so I just held onto the ticket,” said Earley. “I was able to wait until after the New Year and we were able to prepare for the prize money, so I think it worked out.”

Earley retired from a manufacturing job in Salina and moved to Georgia about three years ago, but still travels back to Kansas often.

“I was in Wichita visiting my daughter and I borrowed her car to run to the store. I bought four different tickets and one of them was the big winner,” he said. “I scratched it off outside the store and I was so excited! I took a picture of it with my phone and texted everyone.”

Earley said that he plans to put the money towards some extra fun in the sun.

“I love to go fishing on the ocean, so I’m sure this will go towards an extra beach trip for us. The rest will probably just go in our retirement fund,” said Earley.

The winning ticket was sold at Dillons Gas Store 9049 on 2212 Maize Road in Wichita. There are no top prizes left in the Cash Series of instant scratch games.