Federal authorities apparently never searched the property, but now state authorities will reopen a 2019 investigation
W
hen Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on 6 July 2019 for sex trafficking teenagers, New York federal prosecutors said the ultra-wealthy predator “exploited and abused dozens of underage girls” in Manhattan and Palm Beach “among other locations”.
One of those other locations was the late financier’s sprawling New Mexico property. Epstein’s so-called Zorro Ranch came into sharper relief after his 10 August 2019 death in jail awaiting trial, with criminal and civil proceedings revealing that numerous alleged abuses unfolded there. But Zorro Ranch did not receive the same scrutiny as Epstein’s other properties: an 8 February Guardian investigation revealed that federal authorities apparently never searched the property.
The US Department of Justice’s recent disclosure of some 3m investigative documents under Congress’s Epstein Files Transparency Act has renewed attention on Zorro Ranch. Now, officials in New Mexico are investigating Epstein’s activities there: the attorney general announced the state would reopen their 2019 investigation put on hold at federal prosecutors’ request, and state legislators established a “truth commission” to look into past activity at Epstein’s ranch.
