(Photo: Crater of Diamonds State Park)
After decades of searching, an Arkansas man stumbled on the second-largest diamond ever found at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.
33-year-old Kevin Kinard of Maumelle and his friends brought sifting equipment into the park and when the did, they had no clue what was about to happen to them!
Kinard said he has been visiting Crater of Diamonds regularly since he went on a field trip there in the second grade, but he had never found a diamond — and when he did — he found a big one!
“I only wet sifted for about ten minutes before I started walking up and down the plowed rows,” he said. “Anything that looked like a crystal, I picked it up and put it in my bag.”
While searching in the southeast portion of the 37.5-acre diamond search area, Kinard picked up a marble-sized crystal that had a rounded, dimpled shape, park staff said.
“It kind of looked interesting and shiny, so I put it in my bag and kept searching,” Kinard said. “I just thought it might’ve been glass.”
(Photo: Crater of Diamonds State Park)
After a few hours of searching, Kinard and his friends went to have their crystals checked by park staff.
An employee reportedly set the glass-like find aside for closer examination. After a few minutes, park managers brought Kinard into the office and revealed that he had discovered a 9.07-carat diamond.
“I honestly teared up when they told me,” Kinard said. “I was in complete shock.”
Conditions were perfect for Kinard to find his diamond Assistant Superintendent Dru Edmonds said.
“Park staff plowed the search area on August 20, just a few days before Tropical Storm Laura dropped more than two inches of rain in the park,” he said. “The sun was out when Mr. Kinard visited, and he walked just the right path to notice the sunlight reflecting off his diamond.”
Kinard’s diamond is the second-largest found at the park since it was established in 1972. A 16.37-carat white Amarillo Starlight was discovered in August 1975.