Keshia Smith unearthed a white diamond during a trip to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas
Credit: Crater of Diamonds State Park
NEED TO KNOW
- A Pennsylvania woman who recently lost two family members found a diamond while digging in a state park
- Keshia Smith unearthed a 3.09‑carat white diamond weeks after losing her son and father
- “I think diamond finds like this are just meant to be,” a park official said
A Pennsylvania woman got an “unexpected moment of light” after finding a diamond in an Arkansas state park.
Keshia Smith had recently lost her son and father when she found a 3.09‑carat white diamond during a trip to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Pike County, Arkansas State Parks announced via Facebook on Monday, May 11.
Park officials said that the discovery was “meant to be.”
Credit: Crater of Diamonds State Park
“I have felt so much pressure the last six months,” Smith said, per KAIT 8. “In October, I lost my son, and we just buried my dad a week ago. It has been a lot! I really needed this. I really prayed for this, and I just can’t believe it actually happened!”
She was digging on the south side of Crater of Diamonds State Park with her boyfriend Joey and brother Kirim when she located the diamond.
“To me it looks like a heart. That’s the first thing I saw when I found it,” she said, per the news station.
After showing it to other guests who were nearby, someone suggested that she get the stone looked at.
Staff are able to give guests complimentary rock identifications, per the park’s website.
“Smith exuded joy from the moment she walked in the door. It’s not uncommon for larger diamonds like this to be found during the first hour of the finder’s dig time. Sometimes, I think diamond finds like this are just meant to be,” park interpreter Sarah Bivens said.
According to the news station, her 3.09‑carat white diamond was the second-largest to be registered at the park this year.
Arkansas State Parks’ social media account posted a photo of the precious stone sitting in the palm of a hand, and shared that Smith gave the diamond a sentimental name — Za’Novia Liberty Diamond, which honors her grandchildren while also highlighting the United States Semiquincentennial, which is this year.
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Crater of Diamonds is the only place in the world where the public can dig up natural diamonds in their original volcanic source.
Visitors have found more than 37,000 diamonds since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972. It is also the site of the largest diamond ever unearthed in the U.S., a 40.23-carat stone named Uncle Sam, per the park’s website.
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