PHOTO – Couple Celebrating Anniversary Finds Diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park: ‘So Romantic’

A couple enjoying a road trip for their 10-year anniversary found something incredible at a park in Arkansas recently.

Jessica and Seth Erickson of Chatfield, Minnesota, knew about Crater of Diamonds State Park and wanted to visit the nation’s only public diamond mine, Arkansas State Parks said on its website.

Happy anniversary!! 💎 Jessica and Seth Erickson from Chatfield, Minn. found the diamond while stopping in Arkansas on their 10th-anniversary road trip! 💗 https://t.co/yGG2DGNJOY

— 12NewsNow (@12NewsNow) November 11, 2022

“On the morning of their visit, the couple found a brown diamond weighing nearly two carats,” the site read and detailed what happened:

The Ericksons arrived at Crater of Diamonds early on a Friday morning. They spent the morning digging dirt and by 11 a.m. were wet sifting at the North Washing Pavilion in the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area. There they met some of the park’s friendly regular visitors, who helped them learn how to properly sift. Although most diamonds are found after flipping gravel onto a flat surface, Seth first spotted a metallic-looking gem in the bottom of his screen after an hour of wet sifting. He knew right away it was a diamond and excitedly showed Jessica.

Park staff members registered the find as a 1.90-carat brown diamond and the couple later named it HIMO, which are the initials of their children.

A photo showed the Erickson’s holding their treasure, and social media users expressed their thoughts about the discovery:

“Well God bless you,” one person wrote, while another said, “I lightly screamed for them! That’s so romantic and exciting!!”

Several years ago, a 12-year-old boy found a 5.16-carat diamond at the park which was reportedly worth thousands of dollars, according to ABC News.

In her explanation of wet sifting, Park Interpreter Tayler Markham explained it requires two screens guests submerge in water to wash off the soil, and “Once the soil is removed, the gravel is then separated by size and weight to make diamonds easier to find.”

So far, 581 diamonds have been registered at the park this year with an average of one to two discoveries by visitors a day, the park’s site read.