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"I shook my hand across it to make sure what it was, picked it up, and yelled across the field to my mom, 'I think I got one!'" Hollingshead said.
The family headed to the park's Diamond Discovery Center, where officials confirmed it was a 3.72-carat yellow diamond. Officials said it was the largest diamond found by a park visitor since March 2017, and the largest yellow diamond found there since October 2013.
Park Interpreter Waymon Cox said recent weather likely contributed to Hollingshead's discovery.
"Much of the ground where Ms. Hollingshead found her diamond is made of unweathered volcanic rock," Cox said.
"When it rains, flowing runoff often leaves loose gravel, and sometimes diamonds, on the surface in these areas. Diamonds have a brilliant, adamantine luster that makes them easy to spot, and Ms. Hollingshead happened to be sitting in just the right place to see the diamond sparkle in the sun," he said.
Hollingshead said she hasn't decided whether to have the diamond appraised and sold, or whether to mount it to a ring as a souvenir.