Arkansas Man Finds Largest Diamond Since 2020 at State Park

Christmas has come early for an Arkansas man from Lepanto after visiting the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro.

Jerry Evans recently just learned that he discovered a 4.87-carat diamond this Spring with his girlfriend for the very first time. Evans was only in the park for around 10 minutes when he saw something that resembled a piece of glass on top of a plowed ridge in the field. Not thinking it was a diamond because it was so clear he put it into his pocket and returned home.

Evans began wondering if the stone could be a diamond so he sent it off to the Gemological Institute of America for identification.  He was stunned when he heard back that what he thought was a piece of glass was indeed a near-colorless diamond.

After reading an article about a find at the park in the 1990s, Evans’ son encouraged him to contact Crater of Diamonds State Park about his find.

“While I get many emails from people wanting me to identify something they’ve found here, to my recollection, this is the first time someone has contacted me after they’ve had a diamond identified by the GIA,” said Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox.

“I’m glad that Mr. Evans was able to bring his historic diamond back to the park to have it officially registered.”

According to the press release, Evans’ diamond is the largest find registered at the park since Kevin Kinard of Maumelle discovered a 9.07-carat brown diamond on Labor Day 2020. Evans’ diamond is about the size of a jellybean and shaped like a pyramid.

“Mr. Evans’ diamond is spectacular to see. It’s a complete crystal with a brilliant white color reminiscent of many other large, white diamonds I’ve seen from here in the past,” Cox said.

Many visitors choose to name the diamonds they find at Crater of Diamonds State Park. Evans has decided to name his find the Evans Diamond.

Now I'm curious if Jerry will propose to his girlfriend with that diamond.

So far, 798 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park in 2023, totaling more than 125 carats. An average of one to two diamonds are found by park visitors each day.

In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were discovered by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became a state park in 1972. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an early mining operation on the land that later became the state park.

For more information and operation of the park visit the Crater of Diamonds State Park website.