Couple discovers 4-carat diamond on state park vacation
A couple vacationing to a state park came back with quite the souvenir.
California resident Noreen Wredberg was visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park with her husband Michael when she discovered a 4.38-carat yellow diamond on the ground, according to the Arkansas State Park website. It’s the largest diamond discovered in the park in the last year.
Park Superintendent Caleb Howell said of the discovery, “When I first saw this diamond under the microscope, I thought, ‘Wow, what a beautiful shape and color!’ Mrs. Wredberg’s diamond weighs more than four carats and is about the size of a jellybean, with a pear shape and a lemonade yellow color.”
Noreen named the diamond "Lucy," after the family's cat.
“The name is sentimental to us," she explained, per the news release. "Lucy is mostly gray but has slight tints of yellow in her fur, similar to the light yellow of my diamond.”
The state park, which is located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, encourages visitors to search for diamonds in their original volcanic source, and even rents out mining equipment. The 37-acre field is home to many different kinds of rocks and gemstones, and anything you uncover is yours to keep.
While coming home with a large diamond is not an every visit occurrence, more than 33,000 diamonds have been discovered by visitors since the park opened in 1972. In fact, it was just last year that the second-largest diamond ever found in the park was uncovered, weighing in at a whopping 9.07 carats.
