A grieving mother discovered a 3.09-carat white gem at Crater of Diamonds State Park, catching a wave of emotional release and hope following a year of personal loss.
Keshia Smith planned the trip to Arkansas a year ago, joining her boyfriend and brother on the journey from Pennsylvania.
Little did she know she’d be healing from the loss of her son six months ago and would have just buried her father the week before departing.
“I really needed this,” she told KAIT-TV. “I just can’t believe it actually happened!”
While digging in the dirt, she spotted a heart-shaped shiny stone—a stunning white diamond—and park officials said her discovery was “meant to be.”
“To me it looks like a heart. That’s the first thing I saw when I found it.”
She named it the Za’Novia Liberty Diamond, honoring her grandchildren and the significance of America’s 250th year.
“Moments like this remind us why Crater of Diamonds State Park is such a special place,” Park officials wrote on its Facebook page.
Some Facebook commenters claimed it was a fake find, because it looked so polished. The confusion stems from a basic misunderstanding of how diamonds from the Arkansas State Park naturally look when they come out of the ground.
Despite online skepticism, diamonds from the Arkansas volcanic pipe naturally feature smooth, rounded edges and a distinctively high, metallic-like surface shine. Their “adamantine luster” refers to the stone’s inherent ability to reflect light intensely before it is ever touched by human tools.
And, because diamonds are completely non-porous and do not stick to surrounding clay or dirt, they often emerge from the soil looking perfectly clean, flat, and glass-like.
The general public is used to seeing rough quartz or diamonds from deep-shaft African commercial mines, which often look like frosted, milky shards of ice. Park staff verified the gem at the Diamond Discovery Center, confirming its natural authenticity and its weight of exactly 3.09 carats.
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• Indebted Indian Laborer Finds Life-Changing $100,000 Diamond
• Man Finds Largest Colorless Diamond in Arkansas State Park’s Modern History
The lucky find on April 22 was the second-largest rock pulled out this year at the southern US site.
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