MURFREESBORO, Ark. — An Arkansas man was surprised to discover a piece of glass he found at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro this spring was actually a 4.87-carat diamond.
Jerry Evans of Lepanto unearthed the diamond within 10 minutes of entering the park but only thought it was a piece of glass and threw it in his pocket along with other findings from the park.
"I thought it might be a piece of glass, it was so clear. I really didn’t know,” Evans said. “We were picking up everything thinking it was a diamond."
However, the supposed piece of glass continued to loom on Evans. He finally decided to send the stone to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to settle his suspicions. The institute responded and identified it as a near-colorless diamond.
"When they called and told me it was real, I was tickled to death!" Evans said.
With encouragement from his son, Evans contacted Crater of Diamonds State Park about his find. According to parks officials, this was the first diamond to be identified by the GIA before registering with the park.
"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."
Visitors often name their finds from the state park. Evans settled on calling his discovery the Evans Diamond.
"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.
Evans' find was the largest registered at the park since Labor Day 2020 when a Maumelle man found a 9.07-carat brown diamond on Labor Day 2020. According to Crater of Diamonds State Park, there have been 798 diamonds registered in 2023.
Evans urges potential visitors to "come and search because there’s a chance. They’re out there!"
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