Arkansas park is a girl’s best friend: Woman finds -- and gets to keep -- 8.5-carat diamond

A Colorado woman paid for her vacation — and then some — when she discovered an 8½-carat diamond at an Arkansas park where visitors can hunt for stones and keep what they find.

Bobbie Oskarson uncovered a raw, 8.52-carat white diamond last week at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

Oskarson, of Longmont, Colo., had been looking in the 37-acre field of plowed earth for just 20 minutes when she spotted what she thought might be a piece of quartz. Park officials confirmed that the icicle-shaped stone, about three-quarters of an inch long, was indeed a diamond potentially worth thousands.

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Park visitors pay an admission fee, and any gems they find are theirs. “It is finders keepers,� park interpreter Waymon Cox said.

It’s not yet known how much the gem might ultimately be worth.

“We don’t put a value to any diamond found here,� Cox said. “It would take a certified appraiser to determine the market value.�

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The largest diamond ever found in the park -- the 16.3 carat Amarillo Starlight -- was valued at $150,000 after its discovery in 1975. In today’s dollars, that would be more than $600,000. Oskarson’s is the fifth largest find at the park.

So far this year, about 30 diamonds have been unearthed at the park, which sits on the eroded top of a large diamond-bearing deposit. Frequent rains from spring into early summer have made searches easier, but also muddier.

“A lot of times, they’re found on the surface after a big rain,� Cox said.

Although most park visitors come to scour the soil in hopes of a valuable discovery, there are also hiking trails and a campground. During the summer months, visitors can also enjoy a water park and a restaurant.

Park admission is $8 for guests 13 and older and $5 for kids ages 6-12.

Info: Crater of Diamonds State Park

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