Teacher finds 2.12-carat diamond in Arkansas state park

A 36-year-old school teacher made a sparkling discovery when he found a diamond that weighed more than two carats at an Arkansas State Park.

Josh Lanik, from Nebraska, was on a family vacation when he visited Crater of Diamonds State Park on July 24 and left with the “brandy-colored gem” worth thousands of dollars, the park said on Monday.

“I was walking through an area where it looked like a lot of water had washed when I saw it,” Lanik said.

“It was blatantly obvious there was something different about it. I saw the shine, and when I picked it up and rolled it in my hand, I noticed there weren’t any sharp edges.”

Lanik then showed the gem to his wife before tucking it into a brown paper sack with other rocks and minerals they had found. They then took their haul to the park’s diamond discovery center.

“She wouldn’t tell us whether it was a diamond, but we were pretty sure from her reaction that it was,” he said about the staff member observing the rock.

Shortly after, the park informed the man that it was the largest diamond found in the park all year.

Another park employee said that recent rain storms my have helped him find the pricey piece.

“About 14 inches of rain fell at the park on July 16,” the employee, Waymon Cox, said.

“In the days after the rainfall, park staff registered numerous diamonds found right on the surface of the search area, including two weighing over one carat.”