New Mexico Reopens Investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch

State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women. The office of state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the search was being done with the cooperation of the current ranch owners.

Torrez last month reopened an investigation of the ranch. New Mexico's initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, and state prosecutors say now that "revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination."

Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion with a private runway. The property was sold by Epstein's estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a candidate in Texas for state comptroller who won the Republican primary last week.

State legislators in New Mexico launched an investigation Tuesday into past activity at the ranch and whether local authorities looked the other way. A bipartisan, four-member panel of state House representatives are investigating allegations that the ranch may have facilitated sexual abuse and sex trafficking. New Mexico lawmakers also say they want to know why Epstein was not registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and whether there was corruption among public officials.

Commission members include retired FBI agent and Republican state Rep. William Hall of Aztec and former district attorney and Rep. Andrea Reeb of Clovis. State House legislators who were present voted unanimously on Monday to create the commission with subpoena power and a budget of over $2 million.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls. Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, but the state attorney general's office in 2019 confirmed that it had interviewed possible victims who visited Epstein's ranch.

In 2023, Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered an investigation into financial businesses utilized by Epstein and their legal obligations, resulting in agreements with two banks that dedicate $17 million to the prevention of human trafficking, according to a spokesperson for Torrez's office.

The property has been renamed San Rafael Ranch after a saint associated with healing and the family plans to operate a Christian retreat there. The family said any request by law enforcement for access would be met with immediate and full cooperation.