Courtesy Crater of Diamonds State Park 

The Merf Diamond

A Louisiana man with good timing and a lot of luck found a 2.01 ct. yellow diamond this week at Arkansas’ famed Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Dean Filppula, an offshore steward from Shreveport, La., visted the park during his vacation, which fell just after the double whammy of a rainstorm and a plowing of the search field. 

He found the light yellow stone, “wedge-shaped and about the size of an English pea” in the West Drain area of the park. He is calling it the Merf Diamond, after his mother’s initials. 

“Mr. Filppula’s story is familiar to so many of our park visitors who have found large diamonds in the past. More than half an inch of rain had fallen two days before his visit, washing loose soil from the surface of the diamond search area, and, no doubt, uncovering the large, yellow gem,” said Wayman Cox, park interpreter. “Anyone could have found it, but Mr. Filppula was in the right place at the right time. Mr. Filppula chose to visit the park on a cold day and ended up with this year’s 20th diamond find, and also the largest one found so far in 2015.” 

More than 75,000 diamonds have been discovered in the park since it first opened in 1906.

Filppula plans to sell the diamond. 

JCK