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13-03-2026
STANLEY: Investigators in New Mexico began searching on Monday the former high-plains ranch of Jeffrey Epstein where the late financier and his acquaintances are accused of sexually abusing women and girls, state authorities said.
Democratic-run, New Mexico is acting on new information in documents released in January by the US Department of Justice, including an accusation that Epstein ordered the bodies of two foreign girls buried in hills near the secluded property.
The search follows New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez’s decision last month to reopen the investigation into the late sex offender’s alleged criminal activities at the ranch 30 miles (48 km) south of the state’s capital of Santa Fe.
“The New Mexico Department of Justice will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the survivors and follow the facts wherever they lead,” it said in a statement.
On Monday, a witness heard dogs barking and saw a government vehicle bearing a paw-print symbol, suggesting it was carrying animals, leave the ranch. State police and a county fire and rescue vehicle were also spotted.
New Mexico closed its previous Epstein investigation in 2019 at the request of federal authorities. There has never been a full investigation of the alleged assaults by Epstein, his partner Ghislaine Maxwell and ranch visitors.
Last month, New Mexico became the first US state to launch a legislative “truth commission” to uncover possible public corruption that allowed Epstein to operate in secrecy at the ranch for 26 years before his death in 2019.
Epstein’s estate sold the property in 2023 to Texas businessman Don Huffines who renamed it San Rafael Ranch.
The new owners are cooperating with the investigation and granted access for the search, the department said.
The January 30 release of millions more files exposed Epstein’s social connections with politicians, business people and scientists who he invited to the ranch.
Last month, New Mexico’s Department of Justice said on Wednesday the state was investigating an allegation, which emerged from documents released by the US Department of Justice that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ordered the bodies of two foreign girls buried outside his remote New Mexico ranch.
New Mexico Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez said it had requested from the US Justice Department an un-redacted copy of an email in 2019 containing the allegation
The US Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined comment.
“We are actively investigating this allegation and are conducting a broader review in light of the latest release from the US Department of Justice,” Rodriguez said in an emailed response to queries about the case.
A day earlier, New Mexico’s legislature launched the first comprehensive investigation into accusations that Epstein sexually abused girls and women at the Zorro Ranch 30 miles (48 km) south of Santa Fe for more than two decades. Pressure from Democratic lawmakers to uncover Epstein’s crimes has become a major political challenge for President Donald Trump.
The redacted 2019 email, contained in the latest release of Epstein-related documents by the US Justice Department, had been sent a few months after Epstein’s death to Eddy Aragon, a New Mexico radio show host who had discussed the Zorro Ranch on his program.
The sender, claiming to be a former Zorro Ranch employee, requested payment of one bitcoin in return for videos that the email said had been taken from Epstein’s house and showed the financier having sex with minors. (Int’l News Desk)
