A family trip to an Arkansas state park turned into an unforgettable experience after an Oklahoma woman unearthed a 2.79-carat diamond.
Raynae Madison and her family traveled to Murfreesboro on Sept. 13 to celebrate her nephew’s birthday with a visit to Crater of Diamonds State Park, according to Arkansas State Parks.
Equipped with a beach digging kit and sand sifting tools from a dollar store, the group set up on the north side of the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area near Prospector Trailhead. While sifting through buckets of dirt, Madison spotted a shiny, oblong stone.
“At first I thought it looked really neat, but I wasn’t sure what it was,” Madison told park officials. “I honestly thought it was too big to be a diamond!”
The family brought the stone to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff confirmed it was a chocolate brown diamond weighing 2.79 carats. Madison chose to name it the William Diamond, in honor of her nephew.
According to Arkansas State Parks, the William Diamond is the third-largest gem registered at Crater of Diamonds this year, surpassing a 2.3-carat diamond found there in late July.
That earlier discovery was made by Micherre Fox, 31, who had been searching for a stone to use in her engagement ring. “I got on my knees and cried, then started laughing,” Fox said. She named her find the Fox-Ballou Diamond after her and her partner’s surnames.
So far in 2025, 403 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park. “2025 has been a great year for large diamond finds!” said Emma O’Neal, a park interpreter. “So far, we have registered four diamonds weighing over two carats.”
