A simple question to Siri turned into a glittering family memory — and a genuine diamond discovery — for a Texas family visiting Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park just days before the new year.
James Ward, a 41-year-old high school teacher from Cypress, TX, uncovered a 2.09-carat yellowish-brown diamond on December 30 while exploring the park with his wife, Elizabeth, and their sons, Adrian (9) and Austin (7). Planning for the unlikely adventure began weeks earlier, in mid-December, during a casual moment at home.
“One day we were watching TV, and Austin came and said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, is there any place in Texas or nearby that we can mine for crystals?’” Elizabeth recalled.
A quick query to Siri pointed the family toward Murfreesboro, AR — home to the only public diamond mine in the world where visitors can keep what they find.
Elizabeth said, “I sent the link to James, and he’s like, ‘Oh wait, that’s only like six hours away. We can go!’”
With no previous holiday plans holding them back, the Wards packed up and made the six-hour drive to the park, arriving on December 29. Their first day in the 37.5-acre search field proved challenging. Winter temperatures were biting, and after four hours of searching, the family nearly called it quits.
“We were so cold,” Elizabeth said. “But Adrian was the one who wanted to come back.”
The 9-year-old's persistence made all the difference. On their second day, James was raking through soil by hand near the park’s West Drain area when something caught his eye — a metallic-looking crystal unlike the pebbles around it.
“I didn’t know what it was,” James said, “but I knew it was different.”
He slipped the stone into a paper sack with their other finds and headed to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff confirmed the family’s luck: a 2.09-carat diamond, roughly the size of a corn kernel.
According to Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox, the shield-shaped gem displays the dark yellowish-brown hue and metallic luster typical of Crater diamonds, though it is a broken crystal — common for stones forged under immense geological pressure.
Diamonds discovered at the park formed deep in the Earth’s upper mantle and were carried to the surface by an ancient volcanic pipe. Many show chips, fractures or internal features from that journey.
"Given its current size, you can imagine how much bigger Mr. Ward’s diamond might have been as a complete crystal!” Cox explained.
Brown diamonds account for roughly 20 percent of all diamonds found at the park, with their color caused by a phenomenon known as plastic deformation — structural irregularities that affect how light travels through the stone. Diamonds discovered at the park average just one-fifth of a carat, making the Ward family’s find especially notable.
The family named their gem the Ward Diamond, and its future remains undecided.
“I’ll have to see how much it’s worth first,” James said.
For now, its greatest value may be the story itself — a reminder that persistence, curiosity and a child’s simple question can sometimes lead to extraordinary discoveries.
Credits: Images courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.