Alleged ‘Body Burials’ Spark Reopening of Criminal Investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch

The Epstein Zorro Ranch investigation has officially been reopened after New Mexico authorities reviewed newly released federal documents detailing alleged burial claims tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.

On Thursday, Attorney General Raúl Torrez officially ordered the reopening of a criminal investigation into the 7,500-acre estate, citing disturbing new details found in recently released federal documents. Among the most harrowing revelations is an unverified allegation that Epstein may have ordered the burial of two foreign girls in the hills surrounding the property.

“Upon reviewing information recently released by the US Department of Justice, attorney general Raúl Torrez has ordered that the criminal investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch be reopened,” the New Mexico department of justice posted online on Thursday.

The decision to restart the probe comes after years of frustration over the lack of a physical search at the ranch. While state investigators began looking into the property in 2019, they were asked to stand down by federal prosecutors in New York to avoid overlapping with their sex-trafficking case. Now, Torrez’s office is pushing for total transparency, seeking “immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file.” Parallel to this criminal inquiry, a bipartisan “truth commission” held its first meeting this week to examine how such a high-profile criminal managed to operate with near-impunity in the state. “I was deeply heartened by the unanimous support of our New Mexico house of representatives to establish the truth commission. As chair, it is my sworn duty to do everything within our power to seek answers for the public about what occurred at Zorro ranch, and to pursue justice for every victim who was allegedly harmed there,” Democratic state representative Andrea Romero said by email on Friday.

The push for transparency comes too late for one of Epstein’s most vocal accusers, Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last spring. Giuffre long maintained that the New Mexico ranch was a central hub where she was trafficked to high-profile figures. While she didn’t live to see this new inquiry, other survivors have continued to share chilling accounts. At the trial of accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, a survivor known as Jane described the dread she felt when being summoned to see Epstein at the property.

“I just remember someone, at one point, just came into [my] room and said: ‘Jeffrey wants to see you,’ and then escorted me to see him,” she testified. “I just, as usual, felt, like, my heart sink into my stomach, you know. I did not want to go see him,” recalled Jane, who said she was 15 or 16 at this time. “I just remember being led to his bedroom and, you know, the same thing would happen.”

Another accuser, Annie Farmer, told jurors about a morning at Zorro when she felt trapped as Epstein forced himself into her personal space. Farmer told jurors that the morning after this massage, Epstein climbed into her bed and said he “wanted to cuddle”. Farmer told jurors she “felt kind of frozen”. “He pressed his body into me,” Farmer said. Farmer testified that she told Epstein she needed the bathroom, to flee. The commission, which has been granted subpoena power and a $2 million budget, aims to identify not just Epstein’s crimes, but the enablers and local officials who may have turned a blind eye. “Our House has spoken clearly: no one is above the law, and we will stop at nothing to establish a full and transparent record of truth,” Romero added.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has also signaled that the state will no longer take a back seat to federal agencies that failed to investigate the New Mexico site thoroughly. “This is a legislature that is not afraid to take on tricky issues, where we need a lot more [US justice department] work here, not less,” Lujan Grisham said. As the truth commission prepares to release its full report by the end of the year, the state’s Department of Justice remains committed to a thorough forensic review of the property. “So even though it’s not the news that I wanted to get, I still have to do further things to get rid of this,” she said. “I just feel like it’s very common in women.”