Diamond Found In Diamonds State Park

Published on 05/08/10

In 2009 a friend from church who had visited Arkansas's diamond site told Angela Vickers of Winnsboro, Texas, about the Crater of Diamonds State Park. On Thursday, July 29, Vickers, her husband and their three children visited the Arkansas state park while spending their first family vacation together.

After surface searching for three hours in the park's 37 ½-acre diamond search area, Vickers found a 2.93-carat yellow diamond. The beautiful stone is the color of lemonade and the size of an English pea. She named it the God's Blessing diamond, for as Vickers told park staff, she believes God brought her to the diamond. According to Vickers, "I was walking along with my five-year-old daughter and talking to God thanking Him for the beautiful day. I told Him it would be great if I found a diamond, but if not, I'd be fine without one because it had already been such a perfect day. I sat under a tree to get some shade, looked down, and saw the diamond between my feet!"

Knowing the sparkling, metallic-looking stone, which was rounded with a pyramid-shape on top, was a diamond, she excitedly said, "Oh, that's shiny!"

When asked if she planned to keep or sell her diamond, Vickers said, "My husband wants me to make it into a ring, but I'm not sure yet what I want to do with it."

Park Interpreter Margi Jenks said, "It's been so hot here lately that our visitors have been spending lots of time in the shade. And, that's where she found it, right there on the surface under a tree!"

Jenks noted that for the Crater of Diamonds State Park staff, Angela Vickers' 2.93-carat diamond brings to mind the story of an earlier 2.93-carat diamond found on June 5, 2007, by 13-year-old Nicole Ruhter of Butler, Missouri. The teenager, her mother and grandmother had been at the park that day and were leaving the diamond search around 7:00 p.m. after having no luck finding a diamond that day. They were walking along a service road that park maintenance staff use to access the search area, a road which also serves as a pathway for park prospectors. According to Ruhter, as they were exiting the search area she said a little silent prayer in hopes of finding a diamond, any diamond, even a small one. "I didn't care how large or what value it would be, I just wanted to find a diamond. And, 15 minutes later I found it," said Ruhter. She noted that as they walked along the road her eyes were drawn to a "metallic looking" stone half buried in the dirt, and she knew it was a diamond because of the way it shined. As she picked up the light brown, iced tea-color diamond, Ruhter noticed it was "pyramid-shaped, pointy, light and shiny, and it sparkled." Since she found her 2.93-carat diamond at the edge of that pathway, Ruhter named her gem the Pathfinder Diamond.