Vecepia 'Vee' Towery wins 'Survivor 4' and $1 million

NEW YORK -- Vecepia "Vee" Towery has joined the small but growing "Survivor" millionaires' club.

Towery, a 36-year-old office manager from Portland, Ore., beat Neleh Dennis, a 21-year-old psychology student from Layton, Utah., after the parchment ballots were tallied live at the conclusion of CBS' "Survivor 4" Sunday night.

For winning the competition, which was taped during 39 days in the South Pacific's Marquesas Islands, Towery takes home the $1 million prize.

It's the first "Survivor" with women as the two finalists. Both were outspoken in their Christian faith during the series, and were condemned by some rivals as "Bible-thumpers."

The final 4-3 vote was made by a jury of seven former "Survivor: Marquesas" castaways, one of whom, Tammy Leitner, was less than complimentary to the finalists.

"You beat me at my own game," she said at a tribal council before the votes were cast.

"You lied better than I did, you manipulated better than I did and you deceived everybody better than I did. So congratulations."

Reunited in New York

After the winner was revealed, all 16 survivors discussed the experience during a live "reunion special" from New York's Central Park.

"We have traveled from the most remote island in the world to the greatest island in the world," said "Survivor" host Jeff Probst.

Last November, the contestants were left with minimal supplies on Nuku Hiva, part of Tahiti's Marquesas islands, about halfway between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia.

They began the adventure as two tribes of eight players each.

One player was voted off each week by the other contestants.

Though hardly the ratings or cultural blockbuster of the original "Survivor," which aired during the summer of 2000, "Survivor: Marquesas" was the eighth-rated series during the 2001-02 season.

A fifth "Survivor" series, expected to be set in Thailand, is scheduled to premiere this fall.