Florida man finds 1.95-carat diamond at Arkansas park

A Florida man vacationing with his father in Arkansas unearthed a brown diamond Tuesday at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro.

Doug Lay, 40, of Hernando, Fla., made the discovery about 1 p.m. while he and his father were wet sifting in the East Drain, the park said.

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Crater of Diamonds State Park

Doug Lay, 40, of Hernando, Fla., shows off the 1.95-carat brown diamond he discovered Tuesday at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. It's the second-largest diamond discovered at the park this year.

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Crater of Diamonds State Park

This 1.95-carat brown diamond, discovered by 40-year-old Doug Lay of Florida at Crater of Diamonds State Park Murfreesboro on Tuesday, is about the size of an English pea.

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Crater of Diamonds State Park

Many of the diamonds found at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro tend to have a metallic shine and pitted surface. Doug Lay, 40, of Hernando, Fla., said when he discovered this 1.95-carat brown diamond that the shape and texture reminded him of a musket ball.

The 1.95-carat coffee-colored gem — which has a metallic, pitted surface and is about the size of an English pea — is the second-largest diamond to be discovered at the park this year. The largest was a 1.99-carat yellow Stacy Diamond discovered in March by a ninth-grade student from Garland, Texas, the park said.

Lay told park officials he has not yet picked out a name for his diamond but plans to keep it as a memento of the times he has enjoyed outdoors with his father.

The park said nearly 500 diamonds have been found on its 37 1/2-acre site this year.

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