{"id":1461,"date":"2026-05-14T16:31:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:31:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:31:32","slug":"grieving-woman-finds-3-09-carat-diamond-at-arkansas-park-calls-discovery-meant-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461","title":{"rendered":"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

A Pennsylvania woman grieving the loss of her son and father found an unexpected symbol of hope during a visit to Arkansas\u2019 Crater of Diamonds State Park. (Credit: Arkansas State Park)<\/span> <\/p>

Read more Florida alligator caught on video eating smaller gator at Gatorland<\/a><\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/div>

MURFREESBORO, Ark.<\/strong> – <\/span>While mourning the loss of her son and father, a Pennsylvania woman found an unexpected symbol of hope at Arkansas\u2019 Crater of Diamonds State Park \u2014 a rare 3.09-carat white diamond she says felt “meant to be.”<\/p>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

Keshia Smith of Pennsylvania said she visited Crater of Diamonds State Park last month while coping with the grief of losing her son in October and her father in April.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/div>

RELATED: <\/strong>Arkansas family finds homeless man living in basement after noticing missing items<\/strong><\/p>

According to KAIT, she had planned the trip more than a year ago with her boyfriend, Joey, and her brother, Kirim, hoping it might bring some comfort during a difficult time.<\/p>

While digging on the park\u2019s south side, Smith noticed something shiny in her shovel and tucked the stone into her bag before continuing her search. Later, as she sifted through dirt at a pavilion, she showed the find to other visitors, who urged her to have it examined.<\/p>

Smith said she was overwhelmed with emotion when she realized the stone could be a diamond. Park staff later confirmed it was a 3.09-carat white diamond, with a smooth, flat surface about the size of a bead.<\/p>

Read more Ken Paxton blocks property tax hikes for 132 Texas cities<\/a><\/p>

<\/div>

“To me it looks like a heart. That\u2019s the first thing I saw when I found it,” Smith said.<\/p>

She named the gem the Za\u2019Novia Liberty Diamond, honoring her grandchildren and the nation\u2019s upcoming 250th anniversary \u2014 a discovery she described as especially meaningful during a time of loss.<\/p>

Big picture view:<\/p>

The park is open to the public and adults can engage in gem hunting by paying $15 per day.\u00a0<\/p>

Park staff plows the field periodically to loosen the soil and make diamond hunting easier.<\/p>

Park visitors have found and kept more than 35,000 diamonds since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972, according to park officials.<\/p>

RELATED: <\/strong>Arkansas woman charged after keeping nearly $20K in payroll error<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed there in 1924 during an early mining operation, park officials said. Known as Uncle Sam, the white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats and was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. It\u2019s part of the Smithsonian\u2019s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the National Museum of Natural History.<\/p>

Read more Best 2026 summer travel destinations: Which Texas cities made the list<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Pennsylvania woman grieving the loss of her son and father found an unexpected symbol of hope during a visit to Arkansas\u2019 Crater of Diamonds State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nGrieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019 - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019 - Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Pennsylvania woman grieving the loss of her son and father found an unexpected symbol of hope during a visit to Arkansas\u2019 Crater of Diamonds State Park.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T16:31:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b924fdc312d059ac29442e4398ea22cb.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"headline\":\"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T16:31:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arkansas\",\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461\",\"name\":\"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019 - Houston Moving Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T16:31:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1461#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Houston Moving Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019 - Houston Moving Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019 - Houston Moving Journal","og_description":"A Pennsylvania woman grieving the loss of her son and father found an unexpected symbol of hope during a visit to Arkansas\u2019 Crater of Diamonds State Park.","og_url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461","og_site_name":"Houston Moving Journal","article_published_time":"2026-05-14T16:31:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":764,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b924fdc312d059ac29442e4398ea22cb.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"headline":"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019","datePublished":"2026-05-14T16:31:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461"},"wordCount":468,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp","articleSection":["Arkansas","Lifestyle"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461","name":"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019 - Houston Moving Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-14T16:31:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8400576f3d407bc73de64527832b7e2c.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1461#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grieving woman finds 3.09-carat diamond at Arkansas park, calls discovery \u2018meant to be\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/","name":"Houston Moving Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}