Sometimes, the strangest part of a story isn’t the unlikeliness of the outcome—it’s the determined, very human logic that somehow makes the unthinkable seem almost sensible. Consider Micherre Fox: a 31-year-old Manhattanite who, after months of research, left the endless distractions of New York City to camp out for three weeks in an Arkansas field and quite literally dig up her own engagement ring diamond. This isn’t so much a “man bites dog” headline as “woman unearths fairytale, by force of will, in a patch of well-trodden mud.”
Do It Yourself: Diamond Edition
According to UPI, Fox’s quest began a couple of years ago with one specific and symbolic goal: she wanted the literal stone for her engagement ring to be one she found herself. As Fox explained both to UPI and KARK, “There’s something symbolic about being able to solve problems with money, but sometimes money runs out in a marriage. You need to be willing and able to solve those problems with hard work.”
With her partner apparently both patient and slightly adventurous, Fox set her sights on Crater of Diamonds State Park, the only diamond-producing site in the world where the average visitor can keep what they find. She recounted to CBS New York that she “brought my tent, and my cot, and all the mining equipment I would need,” and in true researcher fashion, even spent two weeks training before her mining holiday.
Fox secured a month-long break after finishing graduate school, though as KARK notes, her actual search spanned three weeks. She spent long, daily hours digging and sifting for buried treasure, reflecting later that, “When you are literally picking up the dirt in your hands, no amount of research can do that for you; no amount of education can take you all the way. It was daunting!” While Fox’s library-honed research skills led her to the right field in Arkansas, there’s only so much preparation for the reality of mud and mystery.
The Last-Day Wonder
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper fable if the payoff wasn’t delayed until the last possible day. On July 29—her final day at the park, and as several outlets relay—Fox was searching along the West Drain of the park’s 37.5-acre diamond field when she spotted something glinting in the dirt. As Fox told UPI, “I initially thought the object was merely the sun glistening off the dew on a spider web, but when I nudged it with my boot I realized it was something solid.” She added, with characteristic understatement, “Having never seen an actual diamond in my hands, I didn’t know for sure, but it was the most ‘diamond-y diamond’ I had seen.”
The diamond, now confirmed at 2.3 carats by staff at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, is described by Fox in KARK as being “the size of a human canine tooth, with a smooth, round shape and metallic luster.” Upon confirming her find, “I got on my knees and cried, then started laughing,” she told both UPI and CBS New York.
Fox decided to name the gem the Fox-Ballou Diamond, blending her own last name with her partner’s—a union of sorts, even before the wedding ring. The park’s Assistant Superintendent Waymon Cox, quoted by UPI, observed, “Ms. Fox’s story highlights the fact that, even when putting forth your best effort, being in the right place at the right time plays a part in finding diamonds. After weeks of hard work, Ms. Fox found her diamond sitting right on top of the ground.”
In a detail noted by both CBS New York and KARK, Fox’s diamond marks the third-largest found at Crater of Diamonds so far this year, out of 366 total. For context, that’s still a fractional chance at the kind of sparkly souvenir Fox took home—but if nothing else, she’s proven that persistence occasionally collides with fate in an Arkansas mud patch.
Beyond the Sparkle
Is there a larger lesson buried here, between the dirt and the diamonds? This particular engagement story has all the literalness you could ask for—commitment as process, resilience, patience, research, and three weeks with a cot and a shovel. As Fox herself remarked to KARK, “After all the research, there’s luck and there’s hard work.” It’s the sort of wisdom earned with sunburns and sore knees.
There’s also the matter of the postscript: Fox’s diamond, instead of being a generic anonymous purchase, now comes with a chronicle of its birth into her life, named and destined for the symbolism of her engagement ring. How often do people get to wear a story as well as a stone?
Officials and observers alike seem quietly delighted by the turn of events. And who can blame them? It’s both a statistical anomaly and a classic “needle in a haystack” tale—except in this case, the haystack is Arkansas, and the needle is best spotted before you accidentally stomp on it with your hiking boots.
So the next time you breeze past a patch of unremarkable earth, you might wonder: how many unclaimed fairytales are hidden just beneath the surface—waiting for someone stubborn, prepared, and, just occasionally, lucky enough to dig them up?
