MURFREESBORO, Ark. – David DeCook, a regular visitor to Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park from Stewartville, MN, recently spotted a glimmering 3.81-carat brown diamond while visiting the park with his family. It is the largest diamond registered so far this year.
DeCook and his brother Derek have been regular visitors to Crater of Diamonds State Park for years and have registered numerous diamonds, but this is the largest diamond either has found, so far.
About an hour after entering the park’s 37.5-acre plowed diamond search area on Monday, April 21, DeCook made his way down a hill south of the park’s south wash pavilion, where he spotted the diamond almost immediately. He described seeing what he at first thought was a candy wrapper. Once he saw a metallic, tinfoil-like shine, he knew what he had found.
DeCook calmly walked over to where he had seen the diamond, picked it up, and inspected it before calling to his brother. Stirring up some natural sibling rivalry, David told Derek, “Oh, you’re going to be mad once you see what I found!”
DeCook put the diamond in his pocket and returned to the park a few days later for park staff to identify and register the diamond.
The 3.81-carat diamond has a metallic, copper luster and a blocky, triangular shape. Many visitors choose to name the diamonds they find at Crater of Diamonds State Park. DeCook decided to name his gem The Duke Diamond, after his dog. DeCook states that at this time, he is not sure what he will do with his diamond.
The Duke Diamond is the largest found at the park since the 7.46-carat Carine Diamond, found in January 2024 by French visitor Julien Navas. It is the 217th diamond registered at the park in 2025.
The day before DeCook’s visit, the park received nearly an inch of rain. According to Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox, “April has been a very wet month at the park, with more than 12 inches of rain.” Rainfall causes erosion in the search area, which often leads to an increase in surface finds. Cox states, “Many of the park’s largest diamonds are found on top of the ground. As rain falls in the search area, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals, and diamonds near the surface.”
As of this publication, park staff have registered 220 diamonds in 2025, weighing more than 32 carats total. Five registered diamonds have weighed more than one carat each.
Quick Facts about Crater of Diamonds State Park
Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three most common colors found at Crater of Diamonds State Park are white, brown and yellow, in that order.
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.
The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an early mining operation on the land that later became Crater of Diamonds State Park. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. It was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. The Uncle Sam is now part of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the National Museum of Natural History.
Another well-known diamond from the park is the Strawn-Wagner. Found in 1990 by Murfreesboro resident Shirley Strawn, this 3.03-carat white gem was cut into a round brilliant shape weighing 1.09 carats. It graded as ideal cut, D-colorless and flawless and was set in a platinum and 24-carat gold ring. In 1998, the state of Arkansas purchased this diamond for $34,700 in donations and placed it on permanent display at the park visitor center.